He succeeds Micheal Martin, ex-chief of the government coalition of center right in the country since 2020.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
Ireland has a new Prime Minister. Leo Varadkar succeeded Micheal Martin on Saturday, December 17, at the head of the government since 2020. This is an unprecedented change between the two main parties of the center to power coalition.
Leo Varadkar, a 43 -year -old gay doctor, born from an Indian immigrant father doctor and an Irish nursing mother, thus became Prime Minister of Ireland for the second time, who is long reputed to be very conservative. In 2017, then 38 years old, he had become the youngest Irish Prime Minister.
“I accept this appointment with humility and determination and desire (…) to offer new hope and new opportunities to all our citizens,” he said, once his appointment validated by the vote parliamentarians during a special session. Micheal Martin presented his resignation on Saturday morning during an audience with Irish President Michael D. Higgins in Dublin. This represents “the honor of a life” to have served as Prime Minister, he said.
a first mandate marked by Brexit and COVVI-19
mm. Varadkar and Martin came from camps which were rival during the civil war at the beginning of the 20th e century: the fine gael and the fiana fail. The two center -right parties set up this rotating position as part of a coalition with the Greens after the 2020 elections.
Leo Varadkar received the support of 87 parliamentarians during a vote on Saturday, while 62 voted against him. The transfer of power will lead to a ministerial reshuffle. The next general elections must be held by spring 2025.
During his first mandate as Prime Minister, marked by Brexit and the beginning of the Pandemic of Covid-19, Mr. Varadkar had been considered effective to set up the first confinement, one of the strictest in Europe, Before returning to work as a doctor once a week while staying at the head of the country. He had also worked to find a trade agreement in 2019 with the United Kingdom after Brexit to avoid restoring a border on the island of Ireland, still today a source of tensions between London, Dublin and Brussels.