Ignatieff will be interim-PM
Oh boy… this is better than soaps… glad I stayed at home this weekend watching my laptop and witnessing history in the making…
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National Post – Michael Ignatieff will become Prime Minister in a Liberal-led coalition government if the opposition parties succeed in bringing down the
Conservatives in a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons next week and if the Governor-General deems it to be a viable alternative, sources said late last night.
Ignatieff met with lame duck Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, and leadership candidates Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc in Toronto last night and hammered out a deal that would see Dion and Rae step aside, with the latter named to a senior post, likely Foreign Affairs Minister.
Earlier, Dion is understood to have struck a deal with NDP leader Jack Layton in which the New Democrats would get around a quarter of the seats around the Cabinet table, if the coalition bid to unseat the Conservatives is successful. The deal would have a guaranteed two and a half year lifespan.
It is understood that Ignatieff was reluctant to sign on unless he was named interim leader because it would leave Dion, who was recently rejected by the Canadian electorate, as leader.
Prior to the deal being struck, sources close to Ignatieff said he was unlikely to support the deal because of concerns that a coalition government led by Dion would be a “poisoned chalice” for the next leader.
Ignatieff has the support of an overwhelming number of Liberal MPs — more than 50 of the 77 member caucus – so his reluctance would likely have doomed the bid by the opposition parties. Those concerns were eased by the prospect of Ignatieff becoming Prime Minister.
It is understood that the plan will be presented to the Liberal caucus Monday at 1 p.m.
Tags: coalition government, Liberals, Michael Ignatieff, PoliticsRelated posts
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[...] in the next confidence-vote availability. The National Post reports late Sunday night that Michael Ignatieff will be the interim leader of the coalition. We’d like to see how our readers feel about [...]