Trudeau to resign as prime minister after nine years, blames party infighting

January 7, 2025 , 06:59 AM

(January 6, 2025, REUTERS) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said he would step down in the coming months after nine years in power, bowing to pressure from lawmakers alarmed by his Liberal Party’s miserable showing in pre-election polls.

A subdued Trudeau, among the most prominent progressive leaders in the world, told a press conference that he would stay on both as prime minister and Liberal leader until the party chooses a new chief within months.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau said.

He also announced parliament would be prorogued, or suspended, until March 24.

That means an election is unlikely before May at the earliest, so Trudeau will remain in charge – at least initially – of dealing with the threat of crippling tariffs once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

The next election must be held by Oct. 20 and polls show voters angry over high prices and a shortage of affordable housing will elect the opposition Conservatives and hand the Liberals a resounding defeat, no matter who leads the party.

In recent weeks unhappy Liberal lawmakers openly called on Trudeau to quit after his finance minister resigned and accused him of “political gimmicks” to win back voters.

“I am not someone who backs away from a fight, particularly when a fight is as important as this one is,” Trudeau told reporters outside his residence as temperatures dipped to minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit).

“But I have always been driven by my love for Canada … and it has become obvious to me with the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the Liberal standard into the next election.”

‘FATIGUE FACTOR’

Trudeau, 53, took office in November 2015 with a message of hope and “sunny ways” and won reelection twice, becoming one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers and winning plaudits from progressives for his focus on gender parity policies.

But his popularity started dipping two years ago as prices of groceries and housing rose in the post-COVID period, and his fortunes never recovered.

An Ipsos Canada poll released on Dec. 22 showed the Conservatives had 45% support among decided voters, with the Liberals and the left-leaning New Democrats on 20% each. Such a result on election day would mean a huge Conservative victory.

Parliament was originally due to resume on Jan. 27 and opposition parties had vowed to bring down Trudeau’s minority government as soon as they could. But with parliament returning only on March 24, the earliest they could present a non-confidence motion would be some time in May.

Trudeau said he had asked the Liberal Party to set in motion a leadership contest but did not say how long it would take. A new party leader would become prime minister immediately, and lead the Liberals into the next election.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ismail Shakil; Additional reporting by Fergal Smith and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto, Promit Mukherjee in Ottawa and Susan Heavey in Washington)

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