Canada has held a snap parliamentary election. The ruling Liberal Party has won the vote giving long-standing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to continue in the office he has held since 2015, British news portal The Guardian reports.
The election requested by Trudeau in August took place on Monday, September 20, for the election of 338 legislators in the House of Commons in the Parliament of Canada.
Trudeau, leader of the Liberal party, gambled on a snap election hoping to capitalise on his government’s performance during the pandemic. In the event, results from Elections Canada suggest voters were not sufficiently impressed to give Trudeau a majority and the liberals received 158 mandates with 98% of votes counted. But nor, it seems, did they punish the Liberals for calling an early election.
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The opposition Conservative Party received 119 seats and seems set to remain in opposition. The election result largely mirrored the outcome of the 2019 election.
«I hear you when you say you want to get back to the things you love, not to worry about the pandemic or the election,» Trudeau said from Montreal early on Tuesday, September 21, morning, acknowledging the decision to hold an early election was deeply unpopular, The Guardian reports. «You have given this government and this parliament clear direction.»