DUBLIN – Lawmakers elected Leo Varadkar as Ireland’s prime minister for a second time on Saturday as Michael Martin’s successor as government partners vowed to defend the center of Irish politics against Sinn Féin’s nationalists.
“The distinguishing feature of centrist democracies is the ability to respect differences, find points of agreement and co-operate. This is what we have done,” said Martin as he supported Varadkar’s nomination as Taoiseach, which is due in 2020. was a major commitment in their coalition agreement.
Under the terms of that agreement, the nearly century-old rivals of Irish politics – Martin’s Fianna Fáil and Varadkar’s Fine Gael – formed their first joint government with the support of a junior coalition partner, the Green Party. The three agreed that Martin would lead for the first 2 ½ years, with Varadkar for the rest of the five-year administration.
they joined the army Normal against Sinn Féin, which topped the popular vote in 2020, has consistently led all opinion polls since then, and tests regularly coalition majority in hopes of triggering early general elections.
Members voted along party lines at a special weekend meeting of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of parliament. 87-62 to give the top job back to Varadkar. He last served as Taoiseach – Gaelic for “chief” – from 2017 to 2020 as leader of the minority Fine Gael government supported externally by Fianna Fáil. That, too, was a new dispensation shaped by the electoral rise of Sinn Féin.
Varadkar plans to announce the reshuffle of the cabinet roster on Saturday night. Martin was expected to become foreign minister, replacing Varadkar’s Fine Gael ally Simon Coveney, who could fill the post of trade minister being vacated by Varadkar.
Varadkar, a 43-year-old Dubliner, and Martin, a 62-year-old Corkman, extraordinarily keen on overcoming tensions behind the scenes to lead a stable Irish coalition strong state finances Fed by American multinationals.
On Saturday, they entered the Leinster House parliament building together, surrounded by well-wishers. They were joined by Martin’s wife and three children and Varadkar’s parents, an Indian doctor and an Irish nurse who met in a Dublin hospital.
In his victory speech, Varadkar noted that, when he became Ireland’s youngest-ever Taoiseach in 2017, there was a lot of focus on “what it represented and symbolized” that he was the leader of the country’s first ethnic immigrant stock and Prior to this, openly gay Prime Minister had become. ,
This time, he said, leading a nation “where you are free to be yourself” would mean fixing the biggest problem in Ireland – Ireland’s booming economy and booming population. Housing Scarcity and AffordabilityEspecially in a capital where the average monthly rent is above €2,300.
“We are failing some of our citizens. It is essential to our success as a country that we do everything we can to get it right over the next two years, Varadkar said.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, who declined to put herself forward as a candidate in the leadership vote, accused Varadkar of being an “insider class” and defending housing policies during his last 11 years at the cabinet table. , which was designed for wealthy investors and corporate landlords. ,
He told Varadkar and Martin across the room that they were “essentially one party now” – and that they would face a double defeat whenever the next election was held.
“You may be standing in the way of change,” said McDonald, whose party already the largest In Northern Ireland, a part of the UK where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not contest elections. “You can make people wait a while, but you cannot and will not stop that change. … The old ways are on borrowed time.”