Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation, saying he will leave office as soon as the ruling Liberal Party chooses a new leader after months of falling public opinion and internal division.
"I intend to resign as leader of the party, as prime minister, once the party elects its next leader," Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, told reporters in Ottawa after a protracted political crisis that resulted in leading Liberal allies calling on him to step down.
It was not immediately clear how long Trudeau will remain in office as caretaker prime minister.
He said the Liberal leadership race would be a "robust, nationwide competitive process."
That means Trudeau will continue to lead Canada when future U.S. President Donald Trump takes office this month, and will be tasked with leading the country's initial response to the new U.S. administration, including a possible trade war.
Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports, which could prove devastating to the Canadian economy, and Trudeau has vowed to retaliate.
Trudeau's support in the Liberal Party wavered for most of last year, but collapsed after the surprise resignation in December of his former finance minister and deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland.
In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of focusing on political gimmicks to appease voters, including an expensive Christmas tax holiday, instead of stabilizing Canada's finances ahead of Trump's promised tariffs.
Canadian media are pointing to Freeland as a possible contender to take over the Liberal Party along with former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, a Canadian who also previously led the Bank of Canada.
Laurie Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University, said the Liberal leadership race traditionally takes four to six months, but this time "they should be quicker than that."
"If they don't have a new leader for the next election, then there's no point," she told AFP.
Trudeau's Liberals are trailing badly in the polls behind the opposition Conservatives and barely survived three no-confidence votes in parliament late last year.
His minority government was held back by a deal with the left-wing New Democratic Party, but in December the NDP said it would vote to oust Trudeau at the next opportunity.
Trudeau has confirmed that he has received permission from Canada's governor general to suspend all parliamentary business until March 24.
This could give the Liberals time to elect a new leader while limiting the opposition's chances of tabling a no-confidence motion. | BGNES
