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Howard to stay despite calls for his retirement

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Australian Prime Minister John Howard, will stay at the helm, despite the "unexpected" demand from a section of his own party that he retire.

It was not his style to blink in a crisis, Mr. Howard has said. He also affirmed that he continued to enjoy the confidence of the parliamentary wing of the Liberal Party in the ruling coalition. Answering questions from the media in Sydney, he exuded confidence that he was not being swept aside by a political storm that is gathering pace.

The long-serving Prime Minister is being asked by his deputy Peter Costello, who is also the Federal Government Treasurer, to quit the scene so that he himself could take over the reins in good time for the next general election. At the centre of their latest row is the question whether the two had, in the past, struck a "deal" that could now allow Mr. Costello to succeed Mr. Howard in the party and, therefore, at the highest echelon of power. The two met in Sydney recently to try and resolve the issue.

However, with Mr. Costello demanding a "smooth transition" for the party's sake, Mr. Howard called for a "reality check."

Commenting on their latest meeting and their earlier political equation, Mr. Howard said: "No agreement was entered into between Mr. Costello and me about the future. It is not my right, nor is it his. The question of who leads the Liberal Party is a matter for the Liberal Party room. ... I will remain the leader of the Liberal Party as long as the party wants me to and [as long as] it is in the party's best interests that I do so." Regional diplomats and observers see in the Australian row some shades of the issue in Britain about Tony Blair's position as Prime Minister in the shadow of an apparent successor-to-be.

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