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Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announces planned date for general elections | World News
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Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announces planned date for general elections | World News

Ireland’s prime minister has announced the date for a general election scheduled for this month.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he hopes the election will be held on November 29, officially launching a shortened campaign that will only last a few weeks.

Mr Harris, 38, has been appointed prime minister of Ireland. the youngest in the country’s history – Following Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.

On Friday, he will go to Aras an Uachtarain, the official residence of the Irish president, and demand the dissolution of the government. of ireland Dail parliament.

Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “I hope, as I will meet with other coalition leaders, that we will have voting day in this country on 29 November.”

He added: “I look forward to the coming weeks and ask for a mandate from the Irish people.”

There is a clear reason why this election was canceled

The worst kept secret in Irish politics has finally been revealed and the public looks set to head to the polls on November 29.

The Taoiseach makes numerous lofty statements about why he decided to hold a snap election, but it is difficult to look beyond political expediency.

While the Fine Gael party has performed well at the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, the opposition is in free fall. Ireland’s main opposition party, Sinn Fein, fell to 16% in a recent poll; This is the lowest support level since 2019.

Its leader, Mary Lou McDonald, once seen as Ireland’s first female taoiseach-in-waiting, has been battling a steep decline in support for a year and is bogged down in dealing with a series of damaging intra-party scandals north and south of the border.

Why wait until next March for the election?

You can read Stephen Murphy’s full analysis Here

Mr. Harris, who for weeks had ruled out a draw on the election date, made the announcement less than an hour after coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Michael Martin said the election would be held on Friday.

Mr Harris could have waited until March, when the coalition’s five-year term ends, to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for the election by announcing a 10.5 billion euro (£8.75 billion) tax cut in recent weeks. and spending increased last month.

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The election will bring an end to the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, rivals since the civil war.

Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin took on the role of taoiseach for the first half of the government’s life, before being replaced by the then Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.

The last election was seen as a tremendously successful performance. Sinn FeinIt has the highest percentage of first preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.