Irish PM quits as party leader here on four dekps

• Brian Cowen announces his decision to resign as Fianna Fail leader but stay on as taoiseach, the first time in Ireland's history a politician has sought to rule without being leader of the main party. Photographs: AFP/Getty Images

After more than a week of political turmoil and a string of ministerial resignations in Ireland, Cowen said the election should be fought on policies, not as a leadership issue.

"I'm concerned that renewed internal criticism of Fianna Fail is deflecting attention from this important debate," he said.

"Therefore, taking everything into account after discussing the matter with my family I have taken, on my own counsel, the decision to step down."

Cowen's surprise move capped a week of political crises that brought his coalition government to the brink of collapse. Never before in Irish history has a politician sought to remain prime minister without being leader of the main party in government.

Furious party colleagues called for Cowen to quit as Fianna Fail chief after he bungled an attempted pre-election cabinet reshuffle last Thursday. The other party in Cowen's government, the Greens, blocked his plan to promote six new faces into cabinet posts - and Cowen, inexplicably, failed to anticipate their veto.

The Greens forced Cowen instead to announce a date of 11 March for an election that he has sought to delay since November.

Cowen insisted that he had taken his decision to resign as party leader just yesterday morning and had not discussed the move with other cabinet ministers.

Fianna Fail is widely expected to lose the March election. Cowen - who last week rejected the notion that he could quit as Fianna Fail chief while remaining prime minister - conceded that his move was unprecedented since Ireland gained independence from Britain in 1922.

"This isn't the ideal situation, but we will manage the situation," he said.

Cowen said, by stepping down as Fianna Fail leader, he could focus purely on the immediate task of passing two pieces of deficit-fighting legislation linked to Ireland's recent negotiation of a 67.5 billion (58bn) bailout loan. He said Fianna Fail would elect a new leader within days who would "prepare and move forward the organisation for the (election] campaign itself."

Cowen declined to speculate on who was likely to succeed him. On Tuesday, he defeated a leadership challenge from Cork lawmaker Micheal Martin, who immediately resigned as foreign minister.

Analysts consider Martin and finance minister Brian Lenihan the two strongest candidates to win the imminent Fianna Fail leadership contest.

Cowen - deeply unpopular because of Ireland's stunning slide to the brink of bankruptcy - pledged that the short-term split in power would not "in any way affect our ability to do our business".

But opposition leaders decried his manoeuvre as an affront to democracy and vowed to expel Cowen from power in a no-confidence vote this week in parliament.

Even some Fianna Fail politicians said Cowen should have admitted full defeat now and dissolved the entire parliament for a mid-February election.

Enda Kenny, leader of the main opposition Fine Gael party, said Cowen's "attempt to remain as head of government despite losing the confidence of his own party is another sad example of Fianna Fail putting their own survival ahead of the country's survival."

Kenny said that if Cowen refuses to resign by Tuesday, Fine Gael will pursue an immediate vote of no confidence in parliament against his premiership.

Cowen said he was confident of winning that vote despite his narrow and fluctuating parliamentary majority.

The other major opposition party, Labour, said it would back the Fine Gael move.

Labour senator Alex White said he found it "incredible beyond belief" that Cowen would promote government instability for the sake of trying to bolster Fianna Fail's election chances.

"What's it going to take to prise these people's hands off the levers of power? He (Cowen] shouldn't be there for one more day," White said.

Some Fianna Fail lawmakers agreed with the opposition's frustrations, but said they were obliged to support Cowen.

"I say this with the greatest of respect for Brian Cowen, but what he's just done is pointless and counterproductive. It would be better to call a general election now," said Fianna Fail politician Charlie O'Connor.

Since Thursday, a growing number of Fianna Fail lawmakers have been demanding Cowen's resignation as party chief after his bungled pre-election Cabinet reshuffle. He accepted five back-to-back Cabinet resignations in a pre-calculated move to create vacancies for younger politicians.

But, inexplicably, Cowen failed to secure support beforehand from the other party in the coalition government, the Greens, who received no warning of the mass resignations - and vetoed his planned appointments of fresh faces as a cynical pre-election stunt.

The Green Party instead humiliated Cowen, forcing him to announce the 11 March date for a general election.

The new and eighth leader of Fianna Fail will be elected by secret ballot within the next four days.

Party chairman John Browne TD revealed nominations were now open for any Fianna Fail TD to contest the position.

"My decision will allow the Fianna Fail parliamentary party to elect a new leader to contest the general election and ensure the party fights that campaign in a united and determined manner, free from internal distraction," Cowen said in his resignation speech.

Nominations must be received by the party chairman before 1pm tomorrow and should be proposed and seconded by a Fianna Fail member of the Dail.

A special meeting of the parliamentary party will be convened on Wednesday in the Party Rooms of Leinster House in Dublin to elect the new leader.

The party chairman will confirm the nominees for the position and call for them to be formally proposed and seconded.

Tellers will be agreed by the meeting, which will be addressed by Cowen and each nominee, ad ballot papers will be distributed and a secret ballot will follow.

The new leader will be announced by Browne and party whip John Curran.

Fianna Fail - which means "soldiers of destiny" in Gaelic - has won the most seats in parliament in every national election since 1932.

It has formed governments following the past six elections dating back to 1987. But all opinion polls over the past year suggest that the party faces a thrashing of historic proportions this time round.