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Irish PM faces mutiny in party
By Shawn Pogatchnik |
November 24, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LAWMAKERS in Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen's own party mounted a rebellion yesterday to try to oust him, an effort that could trigger a snap election and delay a massive EU-IMF bailout of Ireland.
Cowen's Cabinet colleagues in the Fianna Fail party said they were confident, however, that the rebels don't have enough votes to pursue a no-confidence motion against Cowen.
The Cabinet gathered at Cowen's office to complete its four-year plan for unprecedented budget cuts tied to Ireland's international bailout. The plan, which proposes to slash 15 billion euros (US$20 billion) from the country's 2011-14 budget deficits, is to be published today.
Two separate meetings were happening yesterday - one led by a handful of publicly identified rebels, the second by the full 70-strong bloc of Fianna Fail lawmakers.
"There's serious discontent within the parliamentary party. I believe it's now up to those who've spoken out to take soundings amongst their colleagues to take action to remove that man (Cowen) immediately," Fianna Fail lawmaker John McGuinness said.
At stake is the future course of the potentially 100 billion-euro European Union and International Monetary Fund rescue of Ireland, a nation heading toward bankruptcy next year because of a bank-bailout bill it can no longer finance on its own.
The Irish crisis, and its uncertain solution, have driven up the borrowing costs of debt-struck nations from Portugal to Spain and fanned fears that a third member of the 16-nation eurozone after Greece and Ireland might be backed into its own bailout corner soon.
Cowen conceded late Monday he must call an election next year but sought to delay it as long as possible. His hand was forced when the junior party in his coalition, the Greens, said it would withdraw support once the 2011 budget was passed.
The Greens said they expected the country to hold an election by late January, but Fianna Fail officials said the budget would require multiple votes on different tax increases that could drag the process into February.
At the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, EU monetary and financial affairs minister Olli Rehn gathered Ireland's European lawmakers for a confidential briefing.
Cowen's Cabinet colleagues in the Fianna Fail party said they were confident, however, that the rebels don't have enough votes to pursue a no-confidence motion against Cowen.
The Cabinet gathered at Cowen's office to complete its four-year plan for unprecedented budget cuts tied to Ireland's international bailout. The plan, which proposes to slash 15 billion euros (US$20 billion) from the country's 2011-14 budget deficits, is to be published today.
Two separate meetings were happening yesterday - one led by a handful of publicly identified rebels, the second by the full 70-strong bloc of Fianna Fail lawmakers.
"There's serious discontent within the parliamentary party. I believe it's now up to those who've spoken out to take soundings amongst their colleagues to take action to remove that man (Cowen) immediately," Fianna Fail lawmaker John McGuinness said.
At stake is the future course of the potentially 100 billion-euro European Union and International Monetary Fund rescue of Ireland, a nation heading toward bankruptcy next year because of a bank-bailout bill it can no longer finance on its own.
The Irish crisis, and its uncertain solution, have driven up the borrowing costs of debt-struck nations from Portugal to Spain and fanned fears that a third member of the 16-nation eurozone after Greece and Ireland might be backed into its own bailout corner soon.
Cowen conceded late Monday he must call an election next year but sought to delay it as long as possible. His hand was forced when the junior party in his coalition, the Greens, said it would withdraw support once the 2011 budget was passed.
The Greens said they expected the country to hold an election by late January, but Fianna Fail officials said the budget would require multiple votes on different tax increases that could drag the process into February.
At the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, EU monetary and financial affairs minister Olli Rehn gathered Ireland's European lawmakers for a confidential briefing.
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