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Justin Trudeau resigned today as the leader of his Liberal Party of Canada effectively ending his nine-year tenure as Canada’s Prime Minister too. The move comes amid rising dissent against him within his party. He held a press conference today outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa.
“I have informed my party and the Governor that I intend to resign as leader of the party as well as prime minister of Canada, and will do so as soon as the my successor is appointed through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Mr Trudeau said.
Mr Trudeau, 53, went on to say that although he is a “fighter”, the parliament under his leadership is completely “paralysed”.
“I hereby prorogue the Parliament until March 24 in order to initiate the process of finding a new leader to lead the party and Canada until elections scheduled for later this year,” he added.
He further stated that “A new prime minister and leader of the party will carry its values and ideals into the next election, and I am excited to see that process unfold.”
According to Canada’s legislature, in such a case, the ruling party gets 90 days from the date of resignation of its leader to find a replacement.
Speaking about his regrets, Justin Tudeau said “If I have one regret… I do wish that we’d been able to change the way we elect our governments in this country”, adding that “Voters should be allowed to pick their second and third choices on the voting ballot itself, instead of the current system, which is set up to play to the advantage of those who want to polarise the situation and play Canadians against each other.”
In his resignation speech, Mr Trudeau didn’t miss an opportunity to target the leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre. “Stopping the fight against climate change does not make sense and backing off on the values and strengths on diversity is not the right path,” he said, adding that “Pierre Poilievre’s vision for Canada is not the right one.”
“We need an ambitious, optimistic view of the future and Pierre Poilievre is not offering that,” Mr Trudeau claimed.
Justin Trudeau has been facing immense pressure from his party colleagues as latest opinion polls show an overwhelming surge in support for the opposition Conservative Party. Canada will go to polls later this year and must have a new government in place before October 20.
Mr Trudeau is likely to continue as PM temporarily till a successor is chosen. This could take as little as a few days and may even extend to a few months. Canada’s internal politics as well as the country’s geopolitical standing has taken a severe and damaging blow under Mr Trudeau’s leadership.
A few months ago, Justin Trudeau lost the support of his key ally leading to a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister in Parliament. Somehow managing to garner the fragile support of other small parties to form a coalition, Mr Trudeau’s government survived, but the prime minister came under increased pressure after his finance minister quit in December over a policy clash.
The Canadian dollar, which had been on a downward spiral since September and was at a new-low, has appreciated since Trudeau decided to step down as leader of the Liberal party and in-turn the prime minister.
Canada’s economy, which is already facing problems like slowing growth, high inflation, a stagnant GDP, and crumbling trade policies, is now also facing an existential crisis with Donald Trump threatening massive tariffs.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Italia flogged himself at a public meeting in Gujarat’s Surat today for failing to ensure justice for the “innocent daughter of Amreli”.
In a video, he was seen seeking forgiveness, pulling out the belt from his trousers and hitting himself with it even as leaders on the stage rushed to stop him.
“Gujarat has witnessed many incidents such as Morbi suspension bridge collapse, Vadodara boat capsize case, different hooch tragedies, fire incidents and government recruitment exam paper leak cases, but I have been unable to ensure justice to the victims,” Mr Italia said before flogging himself.
Later, the AAP leader released a video statement in which he said he and other AAP leaders have been fighting to provide justice to many victims but in vain.
“Today, when I was speaking on the Amreli incident, I was very shocked and thought how is it possible that no one gets justice in Gujarat,” he said adding that he hoped his act would awaken the “sleeping soul of the people”.
The woman from Amreli was arrested for her alleged involvement in a conspiracy to defame a BJP MLA. She was granted bail by a local court on Friday. However, the case drew ire from opposition leaders after a video showed her being paraded by police.
The 25-year-old was among four persons arrested on December 29 for allegedly trying to defame BJP MLA Kaushik Vekariya on social media. She was granted regular bail by Amreli sessions court judge Rizwana Bukhari after the prosecution did not object to her petition.
Mr Italia had earlier said the BJP government “shields scamsters” but punishes a woman who was just doing her job.
(With inputs from Mahendra Prasad)