Canada PM Trudeau bows out with resignation announcement amid plunging popularity
Fifty-three-year-old has been under pressure to quit for some time amid economic malaise and political scandal
Look how he runs ...
Justin Trudeau, under heavy pressure from Liberal legislators to quit amid polls showing the party will be crushed at the next election, said at a news conference that parliament would be suspended until March 24.
That means an election is unlikely to be held before May and Trudeau will still be prime minister when US President-elect Donald Trump — who has threatened tariffs that would cripple Canada’s economy — takes office on January 20.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau said.
Once the rising star of global progressive politics, Trudeau saw his approval ratings drop to a new low of only 33% late last year. The same poll revealed widespread frustration with economic malaise.
Like many leaders in the west, Trudeau suffered under record inflation and high food prices.
A domestic housing crisis, which saw house prices in some areas jumping by 30%-40% in recent years, has deepened resentment with the government.
He said he will step down as 'leader' of the ruling Liberals after nine years in office. However, he will stay on in his post until the party chooses a replacement.
Parliament was due to resume on Jan 27 and opposition parties had vowed to bring down the government as soon as they could, most likely at the end of March.
But if parliament does not return until March 24, the earliest they could present a non-confidence motion would be sometime in May.
Trudeau said he had asked Canada’s governor general, the representative of King Charles in the country, to prorogue parliament and she had granted that request.
Trudeau had until recently been able to fend off Liberal legislators worried about the poor showing in polls and the loss of safe seats in two special elections last year.
But calls for him to step aside have soared since last month, when he tried to demote Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, one of his closest cabinet allies, after she pushed back against his proposals for more spending.
Freeland quit instead and penned a letter accusing Trudeau of “political gimmicks” rather than focusing on what was best for the country.
“Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarisation that we’re seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics,” Trudeau said.
"From the darling of global liberalism to a cautionary tale for progressive politics, Justin Trudeau's fall from grace has been as spectacular as his meteoric rise," says 'Times of India' report.
Critics maintain his Khalistani-appeasement politics was to 'appeal' to a segment of the Sikh vote base in Canada.
This was a highly politically motivated strategy. He also sought to embarrass PM Narendra Modi and his government in India.
However, this strategy appears to have backfired, with many Canadians viewing it as a distraction from pressing national issues.
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The development has now left the party without a permanent leader just as polls indicate a significant defeat by the official opposition, the Conservatives, in the upcoming election, which is likely to take place by late October this year.
On the Canada's allegations against India and other developments like Khalistanis attack on Indian diplomats, Dr Jaishankar had said --
"We are a democracy. We don't need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about...We don't think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom...How would you react if you were in my shoes?
If it was your diplomats, your embassy, your people, what would be your reaction?, " External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said at a press conference in Washington.
Under federal law, an election must happen by October 2025. But in recent months, members of Trudeau’s Liberal party will have been assessing whether it would be time for the leader to step aside and bring in someone new.
Late last year, nearly two dozen backbench Liberal MPs signed a letter calling for the prime minister to step down or face the possibility of a crushing defeat.
But it was not until mid-December when his stalwart deputy, Chrystia Freeland, left dramatically, criticising the prime minister publicly and questioning whether he could handle a second Donald Trump term. Days later, Liberal lawmakers from Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec said it was time for a new leader, says 'The Guardian' report.
ends
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