By IRNA,
London : Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday he will be stepping down from power, paving the way for Labour to open formal power-sharing deal with Liberal Democrats following the stalemate in last week’s election.
The dramatic announcement to resign in autumn was made after the Lib Dems reported limited progress in power-sharing negotiations with the Conservatives, who won most seats but failed to gain an overall majority at the election.
“If it becomes clear that the national interest, which is stable and principled government, can be best served by forming a coalition between the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats, then I believe I should discharge that duty to form that government,” Brown said.
But he added that he must accept losing the election and that he had “no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is ensured and the process of political reform we have agreed moves forward quickly.”
The prime minister said he was setting in train the process for Labour to elect a new leader at the party’s annual conference in September and that he would play no part in that contest, in which Foreign Secretary David Miliband is favorite to succeed him.
The Lib Dems have been in negotiations with the Conservatives for the past three days but had announced earlier that there were still key areas, including education funding, fair taxes and voting reforms, to be clarified.
Brown suggested that there was the alternative prospect of what he called a “progressive” alliance with the Scottish, Welsh and Irish nationalists.
Any decision to form a new government remains delicately poised and will depend crucially on whether the Lib Dem leader Clegg can gain support from his MPs as well as the party’s federal policy committee on whichever deal is preferable.