Dublin: Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen`s
ruling party says their leader has won a confidence vote of lawmakers and will lead them into a spring election.
Cowen`s Fianna Fail party says that Cowen won yesterday
night`s confidential vote versus his only challenger, Foreign
Minister Micheal Martin.
To win, Cowen needed to receive a majority of votes from
Fianna Fail`s 71 lawmakers. Because it was a secret ballot,
each vote was recorded and then the ballot paper destroyed. No
final vote figures were announced, only a victor.
Cowen sought the confidence vote after suffering months
of speculation that he would be forced to resign before an
expected spring election. Fianna Fail has fallen to a
record-low 14 per cent in recent opinion polls.
PTI
