3 Irish political parties agree to enter coalition govt

Dublin, June 27 Most of the party members of Ireland's Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Green Party have voted in favour of a deal to form a coalition government.

On Friday, Fianna Fail voted 74 per cent in favour of backing the deal reached by its leader Micheal Martin with Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar and Green Party's Eamon Ryan on June 15 while 80 per cent of Fine Gael members and 76 per cent of Green Party members supported the deal in their separate votes, Ireland's National Television and Radio Broadcaster RTE reported.

The endorsement of the deal by the members of the three parties means that a new coalition government in Ireland has eventually been formed after months of delay partially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the deal reached among the three parties, Fianna Fail's Martin will become the new Prime Minister for the first half of the five-year term of the new government and after that the role will be passed on to Varadkar until the term's end.

It will be the first time in Ireland's history that the Prime Mminister role will be played on a rotating basis, according to local media reports.

Martin's nomination is set to be approved at a special meeting to be convened by the lower house of the Irish parliament at Convention Centre Dublin on Saturday morning, RTE reported, adding that a new cabinet will also be revealed.

It is not known yet what role in the new government will be given to Green Party leader Ryan, who has played a crucial part in forming the new government.

It has been reported that both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have made considerable concessions to Green Party in forming the new government, especially to the 7 per cent greenhouse emissions reduction target proposed by Green Party as a main condition for entering a coalition government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael need Green Party in forming a sustainable government.

According to Irish laws, a government can only be formed if it can win a simple majority of support in the lower house of the Irish parliament.

Following the general election on February 8, Fianna Fail won 38 seats in the 160-seat lower house, followed by Sinn Fein (37), Fine Gael (35) and Green Party (12), with the remaining seats going to other smaller parties and independents.

As both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael refused to enter a government with Sinn Fein, a left-wing party in Ireland, they both turned to Green Party in the belief that such a combination can ensure a sustainable government to a maximum possible extent.

( With inputs from IANS )