Leaders Online: Irish Prime Minister of Indian origin Leo Varadkar has announced his resignation from his post. Leo Varadkar has announced his surprise resignation for “personal and political, but mainly political, reasons”. Varadkar first became Prime Minister in 2017 after being elected as leader of the Fine Gael party. He became the country's youngest Prime Minister and Ireland's first openly gay Prime Minister.
Leo Varadkar hails from Varad village in Malvan district of Sindhudurg. He first took office as the Prime Minister of Ireland in June 2017.
Varadkar, who met with colleagues outside government buildings in Dublin on Wednesday, said he felt he was no longer “the best person” for the job. He has made it clear that he will remain as the prime minister until the next successor is elected.
“I am resigning from today as (party) president and leader of Fine Gael. I will resign as Prime Minister of Ireland once I have found my successor,” Varadkar said.
Acknowledging that his decision to resign would come as a “surprise to many and upset to some”, Varadkar said he had taken the decision in the best interests of the country.
Michael Martin, leader of Fianna Fáil in the coalition government and Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, has described Varadkar's decision to resign as an “unprecedented” development.
