Ireland crisis: Ruling coalition partner urges election
Baku, November 22 (AZERTAC). The junior partner in the Irish Republic`s governing coalition has called for a general election in January, after an EU-led bailout of the country`s ailing economy.
The Green Party said the Irish people needed "political certainty".
The government has accepted up to 90bn euros (£77bn; $124bn) of EU-led loans and will publish a four-year budget plan on Wednesday.
The Greens, with six lawmakers, hold the balance of power.
Even with Green Party support, the government of Prime Minister Brian Cowen has just a three-seat majority in parliament and faces a by-election in one of those seats on Thursday.
In a statement, Green Party leader John Gormley did not say the party was pulling out of the coalition but he made a number of demands and said a general election date should be set for the second half of January.
`Traumatic`
Mr Gormley, also the environment minister, said the election should only be held after the 2011 budget had been unveiled and passed.
"Leaving the country without a government while these matters are unresolved would be very damaging and would breach our duty of care."
Mr Gormley added: "The past week has been a traumatic one for the Irish electorate. People feel misled and betrayed.
"But we have now reached a point where the Irish people need political certainty to take them beyond the coming two months."
Ahead of any election, Mr Gormley said the government had to:
Produce a credible four-year plan to show the country could make its budgets balance by 2014
Deliver a budget for 2011
Secure funding support from the EU and IMF which would respect vital Irish interests and restore stability to the Euro area
Mr Gormley said there had been "bad communication" within the government.
He also said Mr Cowen had expressed disappointment at the Greens` decision.
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