The Irish ruling party Fine Gael has named Simon Harris as its new leader, paving the way for him to succeed former Prime Minister Leo Varadkar as the youngest Taoiseach, head of government, in the history of the Republic of Ireland, at 37 years old.
He promised to help small businesses, focus on law and order and resolve the immigration issue.
Varadkar announced his surprise resignation on Wednesday (20), citing “personal and political reasons, but mainly political.” He had made headlines in 2017 when, at 38, he became the youngest Prime Minister in Irish history at the time.
Harris stayed best known for helping guide the country's initial response to Covid-19, he will then be appointed Prime Minister of Ireland when Parliament next meets on April 9, thanks to the support of coalition partners.
“It is the absolute honor of my life to be formally here with you today in Athlone to accept the leadership of this great party, of our great party,” Harris said in her acceptance speech at a Fine Gael party conference in the Irish county of West Meath on Sunday.
“I want to thank every person in this room and every community across Ireland. I want to thank you for your trust. And I want to promise and make an oath to you today that I will repay that trust with hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day after day with responsibility, with humility and with civility,” he said.
Harris also paid tribute to Varadkar for his “incredible leadership.”
“Every time he [Varadkar] acted, whether it was the existential threats of Brexit and COVID or their contribution to key moments of social change in this country. I know and believe his legacy has been significant since 2010,” Harris said.
Harris was serving as Ireland's minister for higher education. He also served as the country's health minister from May 2016 to June 2020, according to the Fine Gael website.
The future prime minister will have no more than a year to save the coalition from defeat in the parliamentary elections. Polls over the past three years place Sinn Féin, a left-wing party that supports unification with Northern Ireland, as the favorite to head the next government.
“This is a time for Fine Gael to restore itself,” he said Harris to hundreds of members at a packed party event.
Source: CNN Brasil
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