Irish parliament delays vote for prime minister after speaking rights row

A vote due on Wednesday in the Irish parliament to elect a new prime minister was delayed by a day after opposition protests over speaking rights for independent lawmakers supporting the incoming coalition government derailed a chaotic sitting.

Micheál Martin was due to be elected prime minister at around 1230 GMT following a coalition deal struck last week between the country’s two large centre-right parties and a group of independent lawmakers after a Nov. 29 election.

The speaker of the lower house of parliament suspended the chamber on four separate occasions before adjourning it until 1000 GMT on Thursday when her attempt to start the vote to elect a prime minister was drowned out by angry opposition lawmakers.

The opposition were protesting against a move by some of the government-supporting independents to retain their extended speaking rights in parliament from the opposition benches. Attempts to solve the dispute in between sittings failed.

The re-elected Fine Gael and Fianna Fail-led government is bracing for the fallout from the return to the White House of U.S. President Donald Trumpand had set Trump’s inauguration as a date when it wanted to have new cabinet in place.

The suspension will delay Martin’s appointment of a new teams of ministers. Outgoing premier Simon Harris is expected to take over as foreign minister and Fine Gael party colleague Paschal Donohoe likely to return as finance minister. (Reuters)