His decision was awaited. Irish Prime Minister ("Taoisaech") Leo Varadkar resigned Thursday evening but will remain in office until a government coalition is found after parliamentary elections with no real winner. “Leo Varadkar announced his resignation to the president this evening. According to the Constitution, the Taoiseach and the government will continue to exercise their functions until the appointment of successors, "announced his services in a statement.
His centrist party, the Fine Gael, came third in the legislative elections on February 8, after which no party obtained a majority.
Strong growth of Sinn Fein
The strong growth of Sinn Fein at the end of this election turned the Irish political landscape upside down, dominated for a century by the two big center-right parties, the Fianna Fail and the Fine Gael. Since then, discussions between political parties to form a coalition have been deadlocked.
On Thursday afternoon, each of these three parties, as well as the Greens, presented a candidate for the post of Taoiseach to the 160 deputies who met at Dail, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. The head of the Sinn Fein nationalist party, Mary Lou McDonald, won the most votes with the support of 45 deputies, far from the 80 votes required to obtain a parliamentary majority.
This vote, however, represents a symbolic boost for Sinn Fein, once considered the political showcase of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), a paramilitary organization opposed to the British presence in Northern Ireland. Today demonabolized, the party seeks to establish a “government of change”, by allying itself with small left-wing parties. Speaking to the constituents, Mary Lou McDonald explained "being committed to representing them well and doing our best to achieve this government of change."
"Empty promises"
On the other hand only 36 deputies gave their support to Leo Varadkar, who denounced the “empty promises” of his rivals. "It is incumbent on those who made huge promises of change to people in this election, who have been given a mandate, to submit a government program to Dail for approval," Varadkar told parliament. "If they can't, they should say it and be honest about their failure and the empty promises they made," he said.
The distribution of seats in Dail is particularly fragmented: Fianna Fail has 38 deputies, Sinn Fein 37, Fine Gael 35. During the poll, Sinn Fein was placed in the lead by 24.5% of the voters, before the two big centrist parties. But the republican party led by Mary Lou McDonald had presented only 42 candidates, or about half less than the Fianna Fail and the Fine Gael.
New elections?
The proposals of this left party in housing, health, problematic at the heart of the concerns of the Irish, met with great success, but another question would arise in the debate if he acceded to responsibilities: that of the unification of Ireland.
Sinn Fein, the second political force on the island, both in the British province of Northern Ireland and in the Republic to the south, wants a referendum on the subject in the next five or even three years. The Good Friday agreement, which ended in 1998 three decades of violence that left 3,500 dead, provides for a referendum to be held if it appears that a majority of the population is in favor of unification.
The balance of power in Parliament is such that at least three parties will have to come together to form a coalition government. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have both ruled out working with Sinn Fein.
"Let us decide to work together in the interests of the people who sent us here," argued Sean O Fearghail, president of the newly elected Lower House, on Thursday. The Greens, the fourth political force with 12 seats, could have a decisive role. They offered to Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to meet them from Friday.
The discussions could be long, and if they fail, lead to new elections. After the last legislative elections in 2016, it took 70 days to form a coalition government between the Fine Gael and the Fianna Fail.
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