Under growing pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down and end his nine-year stretch as leader.
Trudeau said he would stay on in office until his Liberal Party can choose a new leader, and that parliament would be prorogued – or suspended – until 24 March.
“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,” he said during a press conference Monday.
Trudeau’s personal unpopularity with Canadians had become an increasing drag on his party’s fortunes in advance of federal elections later this year.
The 53-year-old prime minister faced growing calls to quit from inside his Liberal Party, which ramped up in December when deputy prime minister and long-time ally Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned, citing Trudeau’s perceived failure to not take US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on imported Canadian goods seriously.
In a public resignation letter, she accused Trudeau of not doing enough to address the “grave challenge” posed by Trump’s proposals.
Trump has promised to impose a tax of 25% on imported Canadian goods – which economists have warned would significantly hurt Canada’s economy – unless the country takes steps to increase security on its shared border.
Trudeau said at the time he had hoped Freeland would have continued in her post, “but she chose otherwise.”
Under Trudeau, the Liberal Party has governed as a minority party with the support of several smaller parties, but the prime minister has struggled to keep the coalition together while trying to fight high inflation and housing prices.
Following Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the support of parties that had previously helped keep the Liberals in power – the Quebec nationalist party, Bloc Quebecois, and the left-leaning New Democrats.
The largest opposition party, the Conservatives, have maintained a significant two-digit lead over the Liberals in polls for months – suggesting that if a general election were held today, the Liberals could be in for a significant defeat.
The Liberals have also lost a series of special elections in recent months, including in former party strongholds in Toronto and Montreal, underscoring the party’s political troubles.
Trudeau announced his intention to quit before his party’s national caucus meets on Wednesday.
Liberals will now choose a new leader to take the party into the next election. [BBC]
