アイルランドに最年少首相、３７歳ハリス氏

【ダブリンＡＦＰ＝時事】アイルランド下院は９日、レオ・バラッカー首相の辞任を受けて後任首相を決める投票を行い、中道右派の与党・統一アイルランド党のサイモン・ハリス党首を選出した。ハリス氏は３７歳と、同国史上最年少の首相となった。（写真は、アイルランド・ダブリンの下院を後にするサイモン・ハリス新首相。下院提供）
　投票結果は賛成８８、反対６９。ハリス氏は首相指名を受け演説し、「団結、協力、相互尊重の精神で先頭に立っていきたい」と表明した。
　ハリス氏は１６歳で統一アイルランド党の青年部に加入後、頭角を現し、２２歳で県会議員に選ばれた。２０１１年、２４歳で下院議員に当選し、１６年に保健相、２０年には教育相に起用された。
　アイルランドでは６月７日に地方選挙と欧州議会選挙が予定されている。来年３月までには総選挙も実施されることになっている。国民は住宅難に直面し、反移民の動きも拡大している。
　党の支持率が低迷する中、ハリス氏が限られた時間で山積する課題をどう乗り切るか、手腕が問われることになる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/04/10-19:05）

Simon Harris became Ireland's youngest ever prime minister Tuesday, pledging to bring new energy to the role but conceding that time is tight before looming crucial election tests.
Harris, 37, replaces Leo Varadkar who abruptly quit last month citing personal and political reasons.
Ireland's parliament voted 88 to 69 in favour of Harris who was officially installed at a ceremony with President Michael D. Higgins.
The centre-right Fine Gael party -- part of a three-party governing coalition -- selected Harris as its leader following an uncontested election after Varadkar resigned.
But he faces key elections within months as well as domestic pressure to tackle crises over housing and opposition to migration.
On accepting the nomination, Harris told parliament: This is very much a partnership government and I intend to lead us in the spirit of unity, collaboration and mutual respect, he said, watched by his wife and two children.
I want to bring new ideas and new energy and, I hope, a new empathy to public life. Time is certainly short, and there's a lot to do, Harris added.
Varadkar quit last month saying that at the age of 45 he no longer felt he was the best person to lead the country. Varadkar, the youngest prime minister when first elected in 2017, said Tuesday said he always knew Harris would fill the top job.
This has perhaps come a little bit sooner than he might have planned or expected. But I know he will rise to the occasion, Varadkar said.
He has the empathy, energy, experience, campaigning skills and political antenna to take us forward.
- Meteoric rise -
Harris's crowning as prime minister, known as the taoiseach in Gaelic, caps a meteoric political rise.
He joined the youth branch of Fine Gael at the age of 16 and quickly rose through its ranks.
A county councillor at the age of 22, he was elected to parliament in 2011 as a 24-year-old.
At the time he was the youngest MP and was nicknamed Baby of the Dail (Irish parliament).
He was appointed health minister in 2016 aged just 29 and higher education minister in 2020.
Even critics concede he is a talented communicator.
Harris's prominence on social media, especially TikTok, has made him one of the most visible politicians in Ireland.
He is a really young guy, very enthusiastic, and I think he will be really good for the country, Nolene Smith, a 52-year-old university lecturer, told AFP.
Roger Rogerson, 59-year-old car rental manager, was more sceptical.
It came about by the outgoing Taoiseach having no more influence or not being able to make any significant changes in the remainder of the term, he told AFP.
The new prime minister faces a formidable to-do list, including tackling housing and homelessness crises, and criticism of government policy on asylum seekers.
When he was selected as party leader last month, Harris told members that he would repay their faith with hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out, with responsibility, with humility and with civility.
He also said he would focus on building more homes, pursue a more planned and sustainable immigration policy and that he would fight against the dangers of populism.
Harris will also urgently seek to galvanise his struggling party, which lags in polls as key elections loom.
Local and European parliament elections are on June 7, while a legislative election must be held by next March.
Fine Gael slumped to third place at the last general election in 2020, well behind the left-wing, nationalist Sinn Fein, which secured the largest share of the vote.
Sinn Fein -- the former political wing of the paramilitary IRA -- remained outside the governing coalition but still leads in the polls.