Opposition leader Enda Kenny elected as new Irish Prime Minister

Opposition leader Enda Kenny elected as new Irish Prime Minister

2011-03-09 22:11:49 GMT+7 (ICT)

DUBLIN, IRELAND (BNO NEWS) -- Opposition leader Enda Kenny on Wednesday was elected the new Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) in the 31st Dáil.

Kenny is the leader of the main opposition party Fine Gael. He received 117 votes in favor and 27 against. The new PM is expected to announce his cabinet in the coming hours. He has already nominated Fine Gael's Seán Barrett for the position of ceann comhairle (speaker of the parliament).

"I am entering into a covenant with the Irish people today. Our new government will tell the people the truth, no matter how difficult that may be," said Kenny. "Our program for government is fair and is truly radical. We will achieve our objectives working side by side with the Irish people."

Kenny was nominated for Taoiseach by Simon Harris, the youngest member of the parliament in Fine Gael party. The General Election took place in Leinster House in Dublin. The new PM will receive his seal of office from President Mary McAleese.

"I congratulate Enda Kenny and look forward to working with the new Irish government," said the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. "The elections results are an expression of a clear mandate from the Irish people for new leadership of their country by the Fine Gael Labor coalition in this particularly difficult time."

Ireland's President Kenny replaced outgoing Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who stepping down as PM on February 1. Previously, Cowen resigned as leader of the long ruling Fianna Fail party in January and Micheál Martin, former Foreign Minister, was elected as his replacement.

In the February 28 elections, Fine Gael became the ruling party after winning the most seats in the Irish Parliament. The results left the former ruling party Fianna Fáil in third place, behind Fine Gael and the Labor party. Fianna Fáil's meltdown began with the criticized handling of the country's financial crisis.

Former PM and Fianna Fáil leader Brian Cowen was in charge during the worst Irish financial crisis in history but he successfully underwent a confidence vote in 2010. He also played a significant part in the Northern Ireland peace process.

In January, Cowen resigned as leader of the long ruling Fianna Fail party after determining that it became clear that internal criticism of his leadership was deflecting the party from uniting to contest the upcoming election.

Cowen also dissolved the Irish Parliament in order to allow the first general election since the multi-billion bailout from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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