Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation. Trudeau, 53, told a conference in the capital Ottawa that he would retain his positions as leader of the ruling Liberal Party and as prime minister until his successor is named.
Internal disputes in the party made it clear that he was not the best candidate for the upcoming elections: "I will resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party chooses its new leader. Parliament has been paralyzed for months after what has been the longest session of a minority Parliament in Canadian history. This morning I advised the Governor General that we need a new session of parliament. She has accepted this request and the House will be adjourned until March 24," said Justin Trudeau.
"If I have one regret, especially as we approach this election, I wish we had been able to change the way we elect our governments in this country so that people could simply choose a second election, or a third choice on the same ballot," Justin Trudeau added.
Trudeau has governed Canada for almost ten years. The son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau ended a 10-year Conservative government in 2015 and was supported by the Liberals in the early years. However, the high cost of living, inflation and other reasons have made it deeply unpopular among the population in recent years and a target of opposition parties.
Since the resignation of his finance minister and deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, over the national budget dispute in mid-December, calls for Trudeau's end have grown louder, including from within his own party. Trudeau had originally planned to run for a fourth term in next year's election, despite growing discontent within the Liberal Party. Most recently, she suffered election defeats in two constituencies in Toronto and Montreal that she has controlled for years. (A2 Televizion)
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