Justin Trudeau says he will resign as Canadian prime minister

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced that he intended to resign, but that he will continue to hold the post till his successor is appointed.

Trudeau has led Canada’s ruling Liberal Party since 2013 and has been prime minister since November 2015.

"This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I am having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he said in Ottawa on Monday.

Recent polls indicate that his Liberal Party is projected to suffer a significant defeat to the official opposition Conservatives in an election set to take place before late October, Reuters reported.

A poll released by research firm Ipsos in December found that 73% of Canadians, including 43% of Liberal voters, believed Trudeau should step down as the leader of his party.

His announcement also comes as Canada faces the challenge of responding to United States President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to impose high tariffs on all imports from Canada on his first day in office, according to the New York Times.

In the last year-and-a-half of Trudeau’s tenure, tensions erupted between India and Canada after the Liberal Party leader told his country’s parliament that Indian agents may have been involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was...

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