Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will retain his leadership after surviving a vote of no confidence in his own party by 61-39.
The secret ballot vote was conducted in the Parliament of Australia by members of Abbott’s ruling Liberal Party in Canberra on Monday morning.
“That seems to me to resolve the matter,” chief government whip Philip Ruddick said in announcing the vote.
Under the governmental system to which Australia adheres, Abbott holds the prime ministership by the vote of his colleagues.
Since his election in September 2013, Abbott has accumulated critics rapidly. A growing chorus of them has been rattled by what they see as a series of poor decisions, backflipping on policies, broken promises and the government’s failure to sell an austerity budget widely seen as hitting the poorest harder than the wealthy.
Commentators in Australia were quick to point out Monday the numerical totals in the party vote did not reflect the extent of opposition to Abbott, even within his own party.
“Forty of those (party members) are duty-bound to vote with the Prime Minister under the political system here,” Stan Grant of Sky News Australia told CNN International.
Of the party members “in play” for the no-confidence vote, almost two-thirds voted against Abbott, Grant pointed out.
“Two thirds have said they lack confidence in the Prime Minister. This is a developing perfect political storm for Tony Abbott. … You have a sizable number in his own party who don’t believe he is the person to lead their party, to lead the country.”
A new opinion poll out Monday shows Abbott’s personal popularity and his party’s popularity plummeting, Grand added.
“If an election was held today, (the Liberal Party) would be wiped out,” Grant said.
