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1st LD: Australia's Liberal Party leadership vote retains Abbott as PM but in precarious position

Xinhua, February 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia's ruling Liberal Party voted on Monday morning to defeat a leadership spill motion, thereby retaining Tony Abbott in his role as the party leader and the country's prime minister.

But the margin of the party-room vote, 61-39, was not emphatic enough to ensure Abbott's long-term future as prime minister

Given that none of Abbott's colleagues had put their name forward as a leadership candidate, the vote effectively meant 39 Liberal Party MPs voted for no particular individual, just as a protest against the prime minister's embattled leadership.

Many commentators and political pundits felt Abbott needed a vote in the high 40s if he was to safely see off this internal party-room challenge to his leadership. Endi