Cowen leadership turmoil as Irish election looms (News Feature)

By Fiona Smith Jan 21, 2011, 13:36 GMT

Dublin - With support at 14 per cent, its leader engulfed in scandal, and an angry public baying for political blood over Ireland's economic meltdown, the governing Fianna Fail party might have thought that things could not get any worse.

Then, on Thursday, things got much worse.

Within the space of a few months, Ireland has been forced to deny it needed a European Union and IMF bailout to help the government support its flailing banks, then received just such a bail out, imposed another savage round of public spending cuts, called early elections and seen its prime minister, Brian Cowen, face - and survive an internal leadership vote of confidence.

Fresh from Tuesday's victory in that ballot sparked Cowen appeared to have - temporarily - steadied the ship ahead of early elections due in March.

Instead Cowen now faces another vote of confidence next week, after immediately scoring an astonishing [political own goal.

In the wake of his survival in the Fianna Fail confidence vote, Cowen replaced a string of ministers - without consulting his Green party coalition partners and seemingly as a 'reward' for those parliamentarians loyal to him in the vote.

Minister for Health Mary Harney had resigned late Wednesday, saying that as she would not be running in the general election that it was inappropriate for her to continue in her ministerial position.

By Thursday morning, four more cabinet ministers had resigned, including ministers with key portfolios such as justice, health and defence, citing similar reasons.

In a move described variously as 'misguided' and 'unprecedented,' Cowen was proposing to replace all the ministers with new Fianna Fail appointees, less than three months before a general election.

'It had to be orchestrated and choreographed,' complained John Gormley, leader of the Green Party, Fianna Fail's coalition partner in government.

'Everyone was astounded by what had occurred,' he told state broadcaster RTE, adding that he only heard of the resignations by text message at 6.30 am (0630 GMT), half an hour before they were announced on RTE Radio's Thursday morning news bulletin.

The Green Party was not alone in its astonishment, with politicians and public alike accusing Cowen of try to pull an outrageous political stunt.

Many considered that Cowen wanted new ministers in position before the election in the hope that they would generate more Fianna Fail votes than ministers who were not standing for re-election would.

Another view was that the appointments were the reward for support in Tuesday's leadership confidence vote, triggered by the scandal surrounding Cowen's undisclosed contacts with the former chairman of failed Anglo Irish Bank Sean FitzPatrick.

It emerged two weeks ago that Cowen had played golf in July 2008 with disgraced former banker Fitzpatrick, whose affairs are under police investigation - just months before issuing a state guarantee of all Irish banks.

Cowen survived the confidence vote, and his main challenger Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin resigned.

The prime minister then went on to make what influential political commentator Sam Smyth described Friday as one of 'the most serious miscalculations I can remember.'

Parliament had to be suspended Thursday morning after unruly scenes when opposition leaders refused to proceed with business until Cowen explained the mass exodus and what would be done to replace the ministers.

Amid feverish speculation that the Greens would pull the plug on government, the prime minister emerged from a meeting with his junior coalition partners armed with a compromise.

An election date had been set for March 11. There would be no new appointments. The portfolios would be re-assigned to existing cabinet ministers.

Although opposition welcomed the setting of an election date, this did not put an end to the matter. The controversy raged on, not least amongst Fianna Fail party members.

Former Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said party members who voted confidence in Brian Cowen on Tuesday should reconsider their decision.

Fianna Fail Minister of State Conor Lenihan Friday described Thursday's events as a 'car crash' and called on Cowen to resign.

He told RTE Friday that 'the credibility and authority' in the Fianna Fail leader had entirely evaporated.

With a parliamentary vote of no-confidence tabled by the Labour Party facing Cowen next Tuesday, it is not even certain that Cowen will lead his party to the March 11 election.

If he does survive, polls suggest it is certain he will lead his party to the greatest electoral defeat of its history.

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