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Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced that he will step down as leader of the ruling Fine Gael party.
In the surprise announcement on Wednesday, Varadkar said he would also step down from his role as prime minister once a successor has been chosen.
“I am resigning from the chairmanship and leadership of Fine Gael and will resign as Prime Minister [prime minister] “As soon as my successor is able to take up this position,” Varadkar told reporters in Dublin.
He added that he had requested that a new party leader be chosen on April 6, allowing a new prime minister to be elected after the Easter recess in Parliament.
Varadkar, 45, said this was the right time to step down.
He said, without going into details: “My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but they are primarily political.”
“I don't have anything else in the queue, I don't have anything in mind. I don't have any specific personal or political plans,” he added.
In 2017, Varadkar became the first openly gay prime minister of the staunchly Catholic country and the youngest person to hold the position. He returned to the premiership in 2022 under a rotation arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, the two largest parties in a three-party coalition with the smaller Green Party.
The next elections must be called by early 2025.
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