The circle of time had spun yet again in the Australian politics, when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faced the trust vote two days back against the Home Minister Peter Dutton. In a similar leadership vote, Turnbull had become the successor of Tony Abbott in 2015.
After surviving the first vote of trust by 48-35, he is expected to be challenged again by Dutton as the leader of the Liberal Party.
Dutton tweeted, “A few minutes ago I spoke with Malcolm Turnbull to advise him I believed the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership. Accordingly, I asked him to convene a party room meeting at which I would challenge for the leadership of the Parliamentary Liberal Party.”
The previous challenge was amidst charges on Turnbull’s government of being unpopular among people, with falling opinion poll ratings. Whereas, according to Dutton’s tweet, the coming would allegedly be due to the loss of the support of the majority party room in his leadership.
After a series of poor poll results, Liberal party faced a loss in the by-election seat in Queensland that also raised questions over the leadership and trust of the party.
In response to all the political turmoil inside the government, Turnbull asked for a letter requesting fresh vote with the signatures of the 43 Liberal Party lawmakers. He would also call a party meeting for Friday. In case of the leadership spill motion being passed, he would not stand in the vote, as reported by Reuters.
Amidst the leadership crisis, the Australian shares slipped by 0.2 per cent. The Australian government also adjourned the parliament until September.
