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Ireland's Labor Party leader says to step down

Xinhua, May 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ireland's Joan Burton said on Tuesday she will step down as leader of the Labor Party once her successor is elected.

"I have asked that the executive board of the party immediately make arrangements for the election of the new leader under the provisions of the party constitution," she said in a statement.

Burton served as leader of the Labor Party for two years, and as deputy leader for seven years before that. She was elected party leader in 2014 when Eamon Gilmore resigned following local and European elections.

She was minister for social protection in the last government, as well as serving as Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) from July 2014.

In the statement, she said she will remain an active and committed member of the Dail Eireann, lower house of Irish parliament, on behalf of the constituents who elected her.

Meanwhile, Ireland's newly elected Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny thanked Burton for her work in government over the past five years, both as Tanaiste and as minister for social protection.

Kenny said Burton spearheaded many of the welfare reforms that helped the last government to surpass its job creation targets to the point where the unemployment rate has been reduced from over 15 percent to 8.4 percent.

Kenny's Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) became the largest party in Ireland after the 2011 general election. It then formed a coalition government with the Labor Party, with the Fine Gael party leader Kenny serving as Taoiseach.

The Labor Party had 33 seats when the 31th Dail Eireann dissolved in February this year and now it took a serious thumping in this year's general election, only having 7 seats, securing the party's speaking rights in the Dail Eireann.

Fine Gael secured 50 seats, only 6 ahead of its main rival Fianna Fail (Republican Party). It formed a minority government with independent TDs (members of parliament), with Kenny being reelected as Taoiseach. Endit