Leo Varadkar was on Wednesday formally elected as Ireland’s taoiseach or prime minister, making him the first openly gay person and also the youngest ever to hold the post. Varadkar won a Parliamentary vote 57-50, with 45 abstentions, BBC reported, and was formally elected to the post at a confirmation ceremony in Dublin. He appointed his electoral rival, Home Minister Simon Coveney his deputy.
At the ceremony, Varadkar said, ‘”I’ve been elected to lead but I promise to serve.” He added, “The government that I lead will not be one of left or right because those old divisions don’t comprehend the political challenges of today.”
Varadkar is considered a centre-right politician in terms of his economic views. He does, however, strongly back LGBT and abortion rights. Abortion is a particularly difficult subject in Ireland, where it is strictly banned, and the country’s Constitution holds that the foetus has equal citizenship. Varadkar is expected to seek a referendum on amending this. He will also be immediately saddled with Brexit negotiations, given that Ireland shares a major border with the UK.
Varadkar was voted leader of the country’s ruling party Fine Gael on June 3. The election was necessitated after the incumbent Taoiseach Enda Kenny, resigned in May. Varadkar’s parents immigrated to Ireland from India. He is a physician who later joined politics.
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