Canadian Prime Minister (PM), Justin Trudeau, has resigned as leader of Canada’s governing party after nearly a decade as prime minister.
The BBC reports Trudeau as saying in a news conference in Ottawa, the Canadian capital that he will stay on as PM until a new Liberal Party leader is chosen.
“This country deserves a real choice” at the next election, Trudeau says, announcing that parliament will be prorogued until 24 March.
Trudeau had been under growing pressure from within his party and elsewhere to step down.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), the party that helped keep Trudeau in power says Liberals don’t deserve another chance.
He says Trudeau and the Liberal Party have “let down Canadians”, and he particularly focuses on the cost of living.
“It doesn’t matter who the next Liberal leader is. They have let you down. They do not deserve another chance,” he says.
Singh also takes aim at the Conservatives, describing them as “another serious threat to the middle class” and warning they will make “cuts” which will harm Canadians, reports the BBC.