The announcement that Justin Trudeau will step down as leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party on Monday will serve as the catalyst for a bid to succeed him as prime minister.
He was unable to “be the leader during the next elections due to internal battles,” Trudeau added, later pointing to divisiveness both domestically and internationally.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust, nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau stated to reporters in Ottawa. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process.”
With the Liberals trailing the opposition Conservative Party in surveys and internal disputes blazing over his treatment of President-elect Donald Trump, the troubled prime minister’s exit comes after mounting calls for his resignation from members of his own party.
When Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned last month, that pressure increased. Concerns over the Trudeau administration’s comparatively cooperative stance toward the incoming Trump administration’s proposal to raise import duties on Canadian goods by 25% were the reason behind Freeland’s abrupt resignation as finance minister.
Former and current Finance Ministers Freeland and Dominic LeBlanc, together with Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly, are the front-runners to succeed Trudeau.
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