Craziness in the federal liberal party

The non-Turnbull federal Liberal MPs appear to have completely withdrawn any support they had for him as Liberal leader, with shadow cabinet members (Abbott, Minchin, Abetz, Mirabella, Tony Smith) resigning one after the other ostensibly on a policy issue while the leader staunchly maintains his grip on the leadership. The (shadow) cabinets of the Liberal Party (and all major political parties) have always contained members of minority factions/groups as well as the majority, to maintain peace. Here, the non-Turnbull people are completely withdrawing from anything to do with team Turnbull.

It’s hard to see how Malcolm Turnbull can survive as Liberal party leader past a few months, if not a week. It seems unimaginable that Turnbull would be in Parliament but not be leader.

How long until a Wentworth by-election?

How long until the next general election?

Abdullah quits the Afghani Presidential election

Reuters reports (1 Nov) that Hamid Karzai’s main challenger in the 1st round of the Afghan Presidential election, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, has pulled out of the 2nd round due on 7 November 2009.

Reuters reported:

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah quit an election run-off on Sunday after accusing the government of not meeting his demands for a fair vote, but said he was not calling for a boycott.

Speaking to supporters and tribal elders in a huge tent in Kabul, Abdullah made no mention of any power-sharing deal with his rival, President Hamid Karzai, an indication that earlier talks to strike an accord had possibly foundered.