BRIAN COWEN’S future as leader of Fianna Fáil was depending this weekend on whether close colleagues tell him it is time to go in the interests of the party.
While Mr Cowen maintained yesterday that he would lead Fianna Fáil into the general election, many of his TDs are unsure if that is the case.
There is little stomach in the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party for another leadership heave, but backbenchers are waiting to see whether senior colleagues present the Taoiseach with an ultimatum to go.
Mr Cowen’s future rests with Fianna Fáil as the indications are that the Green Party is not prepared to support the Labour Party’s motion of no confidence in the Government in the Dáil vote on Wednesday night.
A Green Party spokesman said last night that a general election was now only weeks away and the party’s TDs and Senators would consider the Labour motion on Tuesday.
But Green Party sources described the Labour motion as a “stunt” and said if Eamon Gilmore was serious about an immediate election, he would have put down a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach rather than the Government.
Speaking in Armagh where he attended a North-South Ministerial Council meeting, Mr Cowen said he would lead his party into the election, despite the bungled Cabinet reshuffle.
“There was controversy yesterday; yesterday is past,” said Mr Cowen.
He rejected suggestions that he had caused political chaos by his actions and continued to insist that he had no intention of resigning.
“I have the support of my party, as confirmed by democratic decision last Tuesday, to lead this party into this election and beyond. That is what I intend to do,” said Mr Cowen.
He would not accept that his position as Taoiseach had been undermined by the Green Party’s veto of his attempted Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday.
“The authority of my leadership remains, but what was involved yesterday was a refusal by the Green Party to support my entitlement and right as I saw it, based on the conventions of coalition governments, to put my team into the field for the fighting of this next election,” Mr Cowen said.
“I will now obviously do that by the establishment of my own new front bench to deal with that issue and to prepare and fight those elections. So that issue is over,” he said.
Despite his protestations, Mr Cowen is facing further rumblings of discontent from within Fianna Fáil.
Former minister for foreign affairs Micheál Martin, who resigned after voting no confidence in Mr Cowen last Tuesday, yesterday called on party colleagues to reflect again on their support for the Taoiseach in Tuesday’s confidence vote.
“I think people know my viewpoints, I made them known at the parliamentary party on Tuesday and I think if others have different views now, they can do the appropriate thing. Obviously the party are reflecting on what happened yesterday. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Declining to say whether or not he was considering a new heave against his party leader, he said his position on Mr Cowen’s leadership had been made clear at Tuesday’s parliamentary party meeting.
“Given what happened yesterday, I think it’s time for people to maybe just think about it for a short while and come to their own conclusions,” he said.
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív refused to comment yesterday when asked if he had confidence in Mr Cowen as leader of Fianna Fáil. He said later that he would “not be in Cabinet if I didn’t think the Taoiseach was capable of doing the job”.