THE Gillard government faces days of uncertainty.
The Gillard Government will be forced to wait until Kevin Rudd declares whether he will challenge Julia Gillard for the Labor leadership, go to the parliamentary backbench or even resign from his Brisbane seat and force a by-election, The Australian reports.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
- Who do you think should be Prime Minister?
- CLICK HERE to vote
- Have Your Say in the form below
As government sources last night revealed the Prime Minister would today call a special caucus meeting for a leadership ballot on Monday, NSW independent Tony Windsor warned it was "more than likely" a change of leader would trigger a return to the polls.
And Wayne Swan launched an extraordinary attack on Mr Rudd, saying that "for too long, Kevin Rudd has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader labour movement and the country as a whole, and that needs to stop".
Mr Rudd's dramatic 1am resignation in Washington yesterday threw the parliamentary Labor Party into even more confusion and bitter recrimination as supporters of Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard blamed each other for the damaging events.
Mr Rudd said he had no choice but to resign in the middle of a world diplomatic tour because he no longer had the confidence of Ms Gillard and had been accused of betrayal by Regional Affairs Minister Simon Crean.
"The truth is I can only serve as foreign minister if I have the confidence of Prime Minister Gillard and her senior ministers," Mr Rudd said.
"In recent days, Minister Crean and a number of other faceless men have publicly attacked my integrity and therefore my fitness to serve as a minister in government. When challenged today on these attacks, Prime Minister Gillard chose not to repudiate them.
"I can only reluctantly conclude that she therefore shares these views. The simple truth is that I cannot continue to serve as foreign minister if I do not have Prime Minister Gillard's support.
"I therefore believe the only honourable thing and the only honourable course of action is for me to resign."
In his resignation letter to Ms Gillard, Mr Rudd wrote: "In the past two days, at least one senior cabinet minister has called for you to remove me from office. Reports today indicate that there is a number of ministers urging you to take such action. You have been asked repeatedly to confirm or deny whether you propose to do this. Your failure to do so casts the most serious doubts on your confidence in me as a minister.
"This is the final wave in a crescendo of attacks on my position by members of your government over many months."
The Prime Minister last night declared she was "disappointed that the concerns Mr Rudd has publicly expressed this evening were never personally raised with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resignation prior to his decision".
Full report, The Australian.
