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Roundup: Irish election results may force rivals to form coalition

Xinhua, February 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

As the ruling coalition lost ground in general elections, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny may have to form a coalition with his party's longtime rival.

With votes in 38 of the 40 constituencies counted, Kenny's center-right Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) won only 26 percent of the first preference votes, far below the 36 percent it won five years ago and the 30 percent opinion poll rating.

The Labour Party, Fine Gael's junior coalition partner, could win 7 percent, making it impossible for them to form a government.

"The government of Fine Gael and Labour cannot be returned," Kenny told the press late Saturday. "I've a duty and a responsibility to ... provide the country with a stable government, and that I intend to do fully and completely."

The reality left Kenny with the unattractive option of forming a coalition with Fianna Fail (Republican Party), Fine Gael's civil war-era rival.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has said he will first seek allies to try to form a new government.

In Ireland, a party or coalition wins the right to form a government after securing a simple majority of 79 seats in the Dail Eireann (House of Representatives). If no party can put together enough seats, new elections will be held.

Analysts believe a Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition is the only viable option given the election results.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which trace their origins to opposite sides of Ireland's 1922-23 civil war, are the two largest political parties in the country. Fiana Fail is expected to get 25 percent of the vote.

"Opinion polls suggest that a Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition would be the most viable. This would be historic, but would require choreography," said political scientist John O'Brennan.

"There are extreme risks in forming this coalition. The junior party in a coalition has losses. They are blamed for unpopular government decisions, as evidenced from what has happened with the Labour Party in this election," he said.

A Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition would make left-wing Sinn Fein the main opposition party. The political force linked to the Irish Republican Army is expected to garner 14 percent of the vote in the elections. Endi