Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation Monday, saying he would leave office as soon as his party chooses a new leader, with slumping polls and internal division taking their toll.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister,” Trudeau, told reporters in Ottawa following a protracted political crisis that saw top Liberal allies urge him to quit.
He started addressing the media at 10:45 am local time (1545 GMT).
Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, has been facing his worst political crisis since becoming premier in 2015.
Parliament was due to resume on 27 January in Canada and opposition parties had vowed to bring down the government as soon as they could, most likely at the end of March or before the end of May.
Trudeau confirmed that he had received permission from Canada’s governor general to suspend all parliamentary business until March 24.
He said the Liberal leadership race will be “a robust, nationwide competitive process.”
Trudeau’s Liberals are trailing badly in the polls to the opposition Conservatives and narrowly survived three non-confidence votes in parliament late last year.
His minority government had been held up by a deal with the left-wing New Democratic Party but in December the NDP said they would vote to topple Trudeau at the next opportunity.
That could give the Liberals time to choose a new leader while restricting the opposition chances to bring a vote of non-confidence.
(with newswires)
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