Australia: Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls elections on May 21

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today called for federal elections on May 21, beginning the battle to stay in power after a term marked by natural disasters and the pandemic of the new coronavirus.

The approximately 17 million Australian voters will be invited next month, as every three years, to nominate members of Parliament and half of the Senate. The leader of the ruling party will be named federal prime minister.

“This election is about no one else,” he said. “At stake is our country and its future.”

“I know the Australians are going through a very difficult time. I also know that Australia will continue to face very difficult challenges in the years to come,” he said at a news conference.

Mr Morrison, who is seeking to become the first prime minister to run for a second consecutive term after John Howard in 2004, has been in the polls well behind Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party since June 2021.

Scott Morrison took office after the insurgency against Malcolm Turnbull’s predecessor. Nine months later, the conservative alliance he led remained in power with an election victory that disproved all predictions, as most polls predicted a Labor victory.

Although unemployment is at an all-time low over the past three decades and the economy is recovering, Mr Morrison has been criticized for managing gigantic fires and floods, as well as delays in vaccinating the population against COVID-19. .

Source: Capital

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