Three PD contenders for a two-horse leadership race

THE Progressive Democrats are facing a three-way contest for the party leadership, with frontrunner Tom Parlon facing challenges from both Fiona O’Malley and Senator Tom Morrissey.

Ms O’Malley, who lost her Dáil seat in Dun Laoghaire, and Sen Morrissey indicated yesterday that they would contest the leadership election in September.

The emergence of three possible leadership candidates will pose a headache for acting party leader Mary Harney, who has the responsibility of choosing the two PD politicians who will be among the Taoiseach’s nominees to the Seanad.

The party is changing its constitution to allow the party to be led by a Senator, as neither of its two TDs, Ms Harney or Galway West candidate Noel Grealish, want the job.

But as its two senators will be chosen by Ms Harney in July, one of the three candidates will be ruled out at that stage.

Mr Morrissey is likely to lose out — given that the consensus has long been that the Ms Harney will choose Mr Parlon and Ms O’Malley as senators.

At the party’s general council meeting in Liffey Valley, Dublin, yesterday Mr Morrissey advocated a different mechanism to choose its ‘automatic’ senators, whereby the decision would not be Mary Harney’s alone.

He also argued that the leadership contest in the autumn should be a general election. The party’s heavy losses in the elections make its present rules for leadership skewed in favour of the parliamentary party which will comprise of only four people — who have 40% of the votes.

The council meeting came as defeated PD deputy leader Liz O’Donnell confirmed that she is retiring from politics.