The Greens, the junior coalition party in Ireland, withdrew from Prime Minister Brian Cowen's government on Sunday, continuing the tumult with which the nation ended the week. While they have said they will continue to support the legislation that supports the 2011 budget, thus not jeopardizing the European Union (EU) andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, their goal is to speed up elections.
According to Reuters, the two main opposition parties, Laborand Fine Gael, have informed Cowen that if the finance bill coming before the Irish parliament is not passed by Friday, they will push for a no-confidence vote in him and in his party Fianna Fail.
On Friday AdvisorOne reported that Cowen had attempted to reshuffle his Cabinet to position his party better for the forthcoming elections; however, the move backfired as several Cabinet members resigned. Then, on Saturday, he stepped down from party leadership, but retained his seat as head of government. Resignations continued over the weekend; the Cabinet is now down eight of its original ministers.
The drive to get the finance bill passed so as to speed up elections isn't sitting well with Cowen, who was attending a football game in Portlaois while the government in Dublin was self-destructing. "It can't be done in a week," he said, although he added that Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, would be meeting on Monday with opposition parties to determine how to fast-track the bill.
If a confidence vote is called, with the Greens out of the picture, Cowen would certainly lose; that would mean that the bill would have to be set aside until elections are held. This would not be quite as catastrophic as it sounds, however, since the tax measures called for in the 2011 budget and required for the rescue package were already in place.
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