Leo Varadkar: Fine Gael have 'strong mandate' to enter government after party vote
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed his pleasure that all four sections of the party's electoral college approved of the proposed programme for government.
Fine Gael's Parliamentary Party, Council of Local Representatives, Constituency Delegates and Executive Council all approved of the deal which would see them go into government with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.
Speaking outside Fine Gael headquarters after the party
Read More:
"Fine Gael is going to enter a third term of government, and this new coalition, united and strong and up for the challenge," he said.
Meanwhile, counting is still ongoing with Fianna Fáil the Green Party.
Breaking: Fine Gael backs going into government by a majority of 80% #iestaff pic.twitter.com/fHAcChIAiF
— Daniel McConnell (@McConnellDaniel) June 26, 2020
Fianna Fáil, like Fine Gael, need a majority of members to vote in favour to join the government, whereas the Greens need to meet a higher threshold of two-thirds of members approving of the proposed programme for government.
Green Party chair Hazel Chu expects the vote to be close saying she is "more likely to win the lotto then get (a prediction) right".
"It was a hard call for members to make, thank you to all our members for engaging," she wrote on a post on Twitter.
