European results put Irish PM’s general election plans in spotlight
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris faced a dilemma on Friday over whether to risk holding four by-elections after vacancies were triggered by the results of European Parliament polls or opt to go straight for an early general election.
The prime minister has faced questions over whether he plans to hold a national election sooner than the March 2025 deadline after his government hammered chief rival Sinn Fein in local and European polls, upending expectations that the pro-Irish unity party was on the brink of governing Ireland for the first time.
Harris has said he does not plan to call an early election, but some political commentators say he may be tempted to do so by the coalition parties’ showing in this week’s polls and the fact that governing parties rarely win Irish by-elections.
If he decides to hold the by-elections, it would likely remove the option of an early general election, they say.
Harris’s predecessor, Leo Varadkar, failed to win any of the four triggered by the 2019 European elections, a prelude to a poor general election showing just over two months later.
Harris said on Friday that he had not yet discussed how to approach the by-elections with his coalition partners.
Left wing Sinn Fein was polling as high as 35% in October but its commanding three-year opinion poll lead disappeared ahead of this week’s elections where it won 11% and 12% of the vote, around half that of each of its main coalition parties.
The conclusion of European Parliament election counts on Friday confirmed there would be four vacancies in Ireland’s 160-seat parliament, one of them a member of government.
By-elections must be held within six months of the four lawmakers resigning their seats before the start of the European Parliament’s legislative term in mid-July.
Sinn Fein was in a similar position five years ago after disappointing local and European polls and the by-elections proved a turning point in a swift recovery to capture the highest percentage vote at the 2020 general election.
