Ireland is poised to get a brand new Prime Minister soon, after Simon Harris won an unopposed internal election to succeed Leo Varadkar as leader of the governing Fine Gael party.
At 37 years old, Harris will be the youngest ever Prime Minister of Ireland, but his pledges were all about reconnecting with the past.
He vowed to help small business, focus on law and order and tackle unchecked mass migration.
Herris will be voted in as Ireland’s PM when parliament next sits, on April 9.
Reuters reported:
“He will have no more than a year to save the coalition from defeat at parliamentary elections. Polls for the last three years have put Sinn Fein, a left-wing party that backs unification with British-run Northern Ireland, as the favourite to head the next government.
‘This is a moment for Fine Gael to reset’, Harris told hundreds of members at a packed party event in the midlands town of Athlone. ‘Under my leadership, Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses … Fine Gael stands for supporting the family farm … Fine Gael stands for law and order, on the side of An Garda Siochána (police), where our streets are safe and crime is never allowed go unchecked’.”
This all comes after PM Leo Varadkar unexpectedly announced his departure in the aftermath of a crushing defeat on the latest referendum.
Read more: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar Announces Resignation After Crushing Referendum Defeat
Harris paints himself as an ‘accidental politician’, but has spent most of his adult life in parliament.
“He is one of Ireland’s most visible government ministers and a strong media performer. His keen social media presence led one opponent in parliament to dub Harris the ‘TikTok taoiseach’ (Irish for prime minister).”
Harris will have little room for maneuver dealing with the housing crisis and the record numbers of migrants.
“Harris said Ireland needed to move to a ‘more planned, sustainable’ migration model and a system that is ‘fair and firm’.”
Opposition party Sinn Fein has a lead over the stalling ruling party Fine Gael of between 5 to 6 percentage points.
“‘We have been too left for too long’, veteran lawmaker and former minister Michael Ring told national broadcaster RTE. ‘If he doesn’t take that opportunity (to make changes), Fine Gael and Simon Harris will pay a big price over the next number of months’.”
The Guardian reported:
“Harris said he wanted the centre-right Fine Gael – which governs with fellow conservatives Fianna Fáil and the Green party – to revert to core values including making work pay, being tough on law and order and supporting farmers.
‘Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses the length and breadth of this country. Fine Gael stands for making work pay, for making sure we value work and we value people who go to work’.
To cheers from the audience he added: ‘Fine Gael stands for law and order’.”
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are trailing Sinn Féin, the leftwing nationalist party but support for all three parties has fallen after the referendums where they all pushed for the losing ‘yes’.
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