Irish parliament fails to elect PM for third time

The Dail Eireann, lower house of Irish parliament, on Thursday afternoon failed to elect a Taoiseach (prime minister) for the third time since the Feb. 26 general election.

In the Dail Eireann vote for Taoiseach, both Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) leader Enda Kenny and Fianna Fail (Republican Party) leader Micheal Martin were nominated by their respective parties for the position of Taoiseach.

Kenny's nomination was defeated by 77 votes to 52, while Martin had 91 votes against with 43 in favor.

In addition to the 50 Fine Gael TDs (members of parliament), independent TDs Michael Lowry and Katherine Zappone voted for Kenny during Thursday afternoon's vote.

Martin only received the support of his parliamentary party.

It was the third time that the Dail Eireann met in an attempt to elect a taoiseach.

Following the votes, Kenny, also caretaker Taoiseach, said he would invite Martin to hold further talks between their parties, adding that the current caretaker government will continue to carry out its duties until a new government is formed.

Prior to the vote, 14 independent TDs said they would abstain, supporting neither Kenny nor Martin.

Since Monday afternoon, talks were under way between Fine Gael and its main rival Fianna Fail about the formation of a new minority government. The talks came after Fianna Fail rejected Fine Gael's offer of a full partnership government last week.

While Fine Gael insists that its leader Kenny offers the best prospect of leading a stable minority government, the party has not ruled out the prospect of a minority Fianna Fail government.

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.

On March 10 and April 6, the Dail Eireann failed to elect a Taoiseach during its first and second meeting after the general election.

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.

Source: Xinha