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Irish parliament to vote on electing PM Friday

Xinhua, May 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Dail Eireann, lower house of Irish parliament, is to reconvene to elect a taoiseach (prime minister) on Friday.

Paul Kehoe, a TD (members of parliament) from Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) and government chief whip, proposed the reconvening. He confirmed a parliament vote for taoiseach will take place at noon on Friday.

This will be the fourth time that the Dail Eireann will elect a taoiseach since the Feb. 26 general election.

The news came after Fine Gael and independent TDs met to discuss a draft program for government, which outlines a number of planned measures in areas such as housing, health and job creation.

Fine Gael leader and current caretaker Taoiseach Enda Kenny needs the support of at least six independent TDs to govern while its main rival Fianna Fail (Republican Party) would abstain on the election of a taoiseach.

Last week, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail agreed on a minority government deal after weeks of talks. During the final talks, Fianna Fail agreed to support the Fine Gael-led minority government over three budgets and there is broad agreement on a range of fronts, including rent supplement increases and water charges.

A minority government would mean Fine Gael or Fianna Fail would need to secure support from other parties on an issue-by-issue basis in order to get legislation through.

Fine Gael, which has 50 seats in the Dail Eireann, is still the largest party in Ireland in terms of members of parliament. Fianna Fail, having 44 seats, is the second largest party in parliament. Endit