Divided Canadian Coalition... Trudeau Faces Confidence Vote Crisis

New Democratic Party (NDP) Withdraws Support for Ruling Liberal Party
"Obsessed with Corporate Profits, Unable to Prevent Conservative Party's Rise"

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political standing is shaking. This comes as the New Democratic Party (NDP), the third opposition party that had supported the Trudeau administration, has withdrawn its support for the ruling Liberal Party.

On the 4th (local time), NDP leader Jagmeet Singh stated on X (formerly Twitter), "The Liberal Party is too weak, selfish, and tied to corporate interests to stop the rise of the Conservative Party," adding, "But the NDP can. Now is the era of the people," expressing his intention to run in next year's general election.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Earlier, although the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Trudeau won the early general election in 2021, it failed to secure an outright majority of seats. Since 2022, it has formed a coalition with the progressive NDP, adopting some of their policies in exchange for guaranteed influence within the House of Commons.

However, Singh has recently criticized the government for failing to properly address Canada's high grocery prices, expressing dissatisfaction with Trudeau multiple times. Additionally, tensions deepened when the government took a strong stance by forcing the return to work amid successive strikes by the Canadian National Railway union.

With the general election approaching next year and Trudeau's approval ratings already declining, he is now cornered by the NDP's withdrawal of support. This means the shield that would have prevented a confidence vote in the parliament opening on the 16th is gone. There is also the challenge of passing the budget by the end of the year.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for an early general election to break up the coalition between the Liberals and the NDP, which he claims is driving up prices. However, the NDP has stated that it will decide whether to support the Liberals on a case-by-case basis in the future, suggesting it could still act as a shield if Trudeau faces a vote of no confidence.

Prime Minister Trudeau dismissed the possibility of an early election due to the NDP's withdrawal of support, saying, "The election will be held next year." He added, "I hope the NDP will continue to focus on the Canadian people rather than politics, as they have done so far." The Canadian general election is scheduled for October next year.

According to AFP, the Canadian House of Commons currently consists of 154 Liberal seats, 119 Conservative seats, 32 Bloc Qu?b?cois seats, 24 NDP seats, 2 Green Party seats, and 3 independents. Four seats are vacant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.