Irish prime minister wins confidence vote to remain Fianna Fáil leader
Baku, January 19 (AZERTAC). The beleagured Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, won a confidence vote tonight in his leadership and will head his Fianna Fáil party in the Republic`s forthcoming general election.
The party`s chief whip announced shortly after 9pm that Cowen had seen off a leadership challenge which, had he lost, would have plunged the Republic into an earlier than expected general election.
No official figure was given as to how many Fianna Fáil members of parliament backed Cowen but his position as leaderof the party had been bolstered earlier today when the country`s finance minister confirmed he would be supporting him.
Fianna Fáil sources had told The Guardian Cowen would win the vote with a majority of between six to eight votes.
A total of 71 Fianna Fail members of the Irish parliament were entitled to vote on Cowen`s future.
On any possible challenge of his own to Cowen, Brian Lenihan, the finance minister said: "I made it clear at all stages that I was very flattered at their interest in me being leader of the party ... but made it clear that current financial matters made it impossible for me to disrupt the good working relationship."
Lenihan added that Brian Cowen was the best person to "lead us into this election".
However, Lenigan admitted he shared concerns expressed by fellow party member Willie O`Dea that Fianna Fáil might be punished at the polls.
The country`s outgoing minister for justice, Dermot Ahern, indicated he would also vote for Cowen from his hospital bed where he is recovering from back surgery.
The party expects to suffer heavy losses when the country goes to the polls in late March.
Opinion poll after opinion poll confirms that the majority of the Irish public blame the Fianna Fáil-led coalition for the recession and the country`s fiscal crisis. Cowen and his administration`s handling of the crisis was one of the reasons why the foreign minister, Micheal Martin, stepped forward at the weekend to state he would not be backing the Taoiseach in the vote.
Martin said that one of the defining moments which changed his mind about Cowen`s leadership was the handling of the International Monetary Fund`s arrival in Ireland. "The management of the IMF, the presentation of the IMF coming into the country, that to me was a watershed moment," Martin said.
"I think the way that was managed and communicated and ministers came out, from my information, without the full knowledge of what actually was going on at that time."
There was widespread anger and disillusionment in Ireland over the Dublin governnment having to seek a multibillion euro bail-out from the IMF and European Central Bank.
Many in the country regarded the rescue package as marking a mortal blow to national sovereignty.
Despite Cowen`s apparent survival, bitter divisions remain within Fianna Fáil over how best to minimise losses in the election.
One party member yesterday openly accused Brian Lenihan of misleading rebels within the Fianna Fáil party over a challenge to the leadership of Cowen.
John McGuinness said: "I think what Brian Lenihan has been saying to you is not what he has been saying to the backbenchers.
"He did encourage dissent, he did encourage us to look at the numbers," he said.
McGuinness added that Lenihan "did express an interest in the leadership, and that is what is shocking about what he has revealed today, because that is not what he had to say to us in the course of last year".
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