Why PMs of Italy, New Zealand, France stepped down within hours of each other?

LAHORE: Within hours of each other during the last couple of days, the Prime Ministers of Italy, France and New Zealand were heard resigning from their positions in quick succession---one after another-- due to a variety of reasons, other than corruption of any sort.

While the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had relinquished charge following his inability to counter a severe banking crisis and strained public finances in his country, the New Zealand Chief Executive, John Key, had opted to hang his boots due to long working hours, hectic working schedule and mounting family pressure.

And the French premier, Manuel Valls, had decided to call it a day and run for country’s powerful presidential office in a bid to save his currently embattled political party from a possible humiliating exit in the coming ballot exercise.

Resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi: The New York City-based “Wall Street Journal” writes: “Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation on Monday after a decisive referendum defeat could herald the end of aggressive efforts to overhaul one of Europe’s worst-performing economies, compounding the continent’s woes and increasing the stress on its common currency. Italian President Sergio Mattarella accepted Renzi’s resignation on Monday evening, but asked him to remain in power to oversee the passage of Italy’s 2017 budget, likely at the end of this week. Italy’s lower house has already approved the bill, leaving the Senate to vote on it. “

Having recorded a circulation of about 2.4 million copies in March 2013, this most widely circulated newspaper in the United States, adds: “With populism on the march, whoever succeeds Renzi is likely to be politically weaker and wary of bold moves that could alienate voters as the European Union’s fourth-largest economy contends with a severe banking crisis and strained public finances. The premier stepped down after voters in a referendum on Sunday resoundingly rejected constitutional changes that would have stripped power from the legislature’s upper house in an effort to streamline law-making and make for more stable governments. Once Renzi steps aside, Mattarella will undertake consultations with political parties to determine how to proceed. He is widely expected to opt for the formation of a caretaker government to deal with urgent issues such as a banking crisis threatening to boil over.”

Resignation of the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key: On December 5, an eminent 195-year old British newspaper “The Guardian” had written: “John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, has resigned in a decision that has taken the country by surprise. Key held a media conference in Wellington at 12.45 pm local time, after informing the cabinet of his decision. His resignation will be effective from 12 December, when National MPs will meet to select a new leader. Key said he would vote for his deputy prime minister, Bill English, if he put his name forward. English briefly led the party to its worst-ever electoral defeat in the 2002 election, but has since served as a successful finance minister.

This British media house, which had an average daily circulation of about 189,000 copies in August 2013, had viewed: ‘Key is widely regarded as one of the most popular Prime Ministers in New Zealand’s history. He was first elected in 2008, and recently marked his 10-year anniversary as leader of the National Party. He said stepping down was the hardest decision he ever had to make, but there was “no way” he could have served a full fourth term. This felt like the right time to go, he told reporters. “Sometimes you’ve got to make hard decisions to make right decisions,” he said,  adding it was an opportunity to refresh the National Party’s leadership of the country and hopefully clinch a fourth term.”

John Key said he had a “pretty long discussion” about standing for a fourth term with his wife, Bronagh Key. 

He was quoted as saying: “I don’t feel comfortable looking down the barrel of the camera and not being honest. On a family basis, I don’t think I could commit much longer than the next election. It’s been a decade of a lot of long, lonely nights for her and it’s the right time for me to come home.”

However, he denied that his wife Bronagh had given him an ultimatum, but said his leadership had come at a cost to his family. 

Resignation of French Premier Manuel Valls: In its December 5 edition another prominent British newspaper “The Telegraph,” which is published from London since 1855 and had a circulation of 523,048 copies in March 2014, has reported: “France’s Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has resigned to declare himself a candidate for the presidency in an attempt to save the Socialist Party from a humiliating exit from elections next spring. Valls, 54, a reformist, launched his bid to win party primaries just four days after President Francois Hollande announced he would not seek re-election next May. 

Valls, who served as Prime Minister for two years, hopes to prevent leftist former cabinet rebels, notably Arnaud Montebourg, self-styled champion of "Le Made in France", from winning the candidacy next month. The father of four who is married to Anne Gravoin, a glamorous concert violinist who was present in the Evry town hall where the pair was wed, is tipped to narrowly win the party nomination against a field of seven candidates, polls suggest.”

Widely regarded as one of the UK's principal media outlets, the “Telegraph” had gone on to write: “But no Left-winger - Valls included - is expected to reach round two of the presidential elections, which, according to current voter intentions, will see mainstream Right-winger François Fillon face off against Marine Le Pen, head of the far-Right Front National. While Fillon is runaway favourite, after Sunday's Italian referendum defeat for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the wake of Brexit and Donald Trump's surprise election, no-one is ruling out a Le Pen victory. Posing himself as the Left's saviour, Valls said: "I am deeply revolted by the idea that the Left could be disqualified from this presidential election, and I want to make this revolt our own." He said he wished to avoid a repeat of the "trauma" of 2002 that saw the far-Right reach the second round of presidential elections.”