Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar says he is stepping down as the leader of the governing Fine Gael party.
In the surprise announcement on Wednesday, Varadkar said he would also relinquish his role as prime minister as soon as a successor is chosen.
“I am resigning the presidency and leadership of Fine Gael and will resign as taoiseach [prime minister] as soon as my successor is able to take up that office,” Varadkar told reporters in Dublin.
He said he had asked for a new leader of the party to be chosen on April 6, allowing a new prime minister to be elected after parliament’s Easter break.
Varadkar, 45, said it was the right time for him to step aside.
“My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but mainly political,” he said, without elaborating.
“I have nothing else lined up I have nothing in mind. I have no definite personal or political plans,” he added.
Varadkar in 2017 became the first gay prime minister of the once-staunchly Catholic country and the youngest person to hold the office. He returned to the premiership in 2022 under a rotation arrangement struck between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, the two largest parties in a three-party coalition with the smaller Green Party.
The next election must be called by early 2025.
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