Post date: Jan 16, 2011 8:11:4 PM
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen announces he will remain party leader and hold confidence vote -- despite calls for his resignation.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (JANUARY 16, 2011) RTE - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen will not resign as head of the ruling Fianna Fail party and will instead offer his colleagues the chance to vote on his leadership in a ballot on Tuesday, he said on Sunday (January 16).
"Having consulted with my party colleagues and having reflected on the current and future challenges I have come to the conclusion that I should continue to lead the party. I believe this to be the best interest of the stability of the government and our party," he said.Cowen has faced calls for his resignation following revelations of his close relations with disgraced former bankers.
The defiant premier's decision, following days of talks with parliamentarians, is merely a stay of execution ahead of a general election, likely in March, that is expected to consign him and his government to the history books.
After two days of consultation with colleagues, Mr Cowen said he had come to the conclusion that stepping down would lead to confusion and loss of authority.
"Of course, I intend contesting the next general election as leader of Fianna Fail and as outgoing Taoiseach. But as I say that is a matter that will now be determined at the party meeting next Tuesday and I look forward to the outcome," Cowen said.
A former finance minister, Cowen is the most unpopular Irish leader in modern times due to his handling of an economic crisis that forced Dublin to go cap in hand to the EU and the IMF for a bailout late last year.
Opinion polls suggest the Fianna Fail party could lose half of its 74 seats in parliament in the looming election, ending its decades-long dominance of Irish politics and consigning it to the opposition benches for years.
Revelations that Cowen played a game of golf with the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank months before it was taken into state care have revived allegations of cosy relations.
between Fianna Fail and the bankers and property developers whose reckless loans brought the country to its knees.
Saddled with years of tax increases and cutbacks to pay for the bailout, voters are fed up with the crony culture that helped precipitate the economic crash through lax oversight.