Amidst widespread unpopularity, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation as the country’s Prime Minister and the head of the Liberal Party on Monday (January 6). This precedes a party-wide caucus slated to be held on Wednesday, according to a report in Canadian newspaper The Globe and The Mail.

He is expected to remain in the post until the party elects a successor to the top post.

Addressing a press conference, he said, “Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election, and it has become obvious to me with the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the liberal standard into the next election.”

This move seems to be timed to ensure the party presents some semblance of stability ahead of the impending parliamentary election.

Trudeau’s Liberal government already stood on shaky ground, having won the last election in 2021 with the support of the Jagmeet Singh-led left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) in an agreement meant to last till September 2025. Essentially, the Liberals had amassed seats just shy of the parliamentary majority to form a government and the NDP agreed to support it through confidence motions and budget votes.