Australian PM’s own party defies him in selection of by-election candidate
Hossen Sohel: Austr-alian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s own party defied his wishes yesterday by nominating a former diplomat instead of a female candidate to run in a crucial by-election for a seat that belonged to the man he deposed in a leadership coup, reports Reuters.
Morrison’s Liberal party, the senior partner in a Liberal-National coalition, nominated Dave Sharma to run in the blue ribbon Sydney seat of Wentworth in the Oct. 20 by-election, another sign of the deep fractures within the party.
The by-election was called when former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull resigned from parliament after losing the leadership in a party-room ballot last month, handing Australia its sixth prime minister in 10 years.
Turnbull’s resignation also meant Morrison’s centre-right government at least temporarily surrendered its one-seat majority in parliament. Opinion polls suggest that could become more permanent, with Australian voters angry about frequent leadership changes.
Five independent lawmakers have guaranteed their support for the government to defeat no-confidence votes until the by-election.
Should the government lose the affluent electorate of Wentworth, a traditionally safe Liberal seat that stretches from Bondi Beach to Sydney Harbour, Morrison would then have to strike a new agreement with the independents to continue in a minority government.
Sharma is a former Australian ambassador to Israel and received the endorsement of both Turnbull and the Liberal party’s elder statesman, former prime minister John Howard, although Morrison had hoped a female candidate would be chosen.
“Of course, I want to see more Liberal women in parliament,” Morrison said on Twitter on Friday. “But I always want to see the best candidate selected.”