DUBLIN (AFP) ? Ireland looked set to go to the polls in late February after its crisis-hit government Monday struck a deal with the opposition to fast-track legislation needed to secure an EU-IMF bailout.
Speaking after crunch talks with the opposition, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that a timetable had been agreed to push through the vital finance bill by Saturday.
Parliament will be dissolved after the bill passes and a general election called which was now expected in late February, said Lenihan. This means the polls would take place earlier than the March 11 date originally announced last week.
It is seen as crucial for Ireland to pass the bill before elections, as it is necessary to unlock loans worth 67 billion euros (90 billion dollars) agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund in November.
Monday's agreement followed a torrid weekend in which Prime Minister Brian Cowen's coalition lost the vital support of the Green party and Cowen himself resigned as leader of the Fianna Fail party.
"We have reached the agreed timetable to allow for the finance bill to pass all stages by January 29 (Saturday)," Lenihan said in statement.
Normal parliamentary business in the Dail, or lower house of parliament, would be suspended to allow "full attention" to be given to the bill and the upper house would sit for an extra day on Saturday, he said.
Opposition parties had given Cowen an ultimatum to pass the bill and dissolve parliament by the end of the week or face a confidence vote that could have brought down the government, making it the first to fall because of the euro crisis.
Opposition Labour party finance spokeswoman Joan Burton earlier demanded the passage of the bill by Friday, adding: "This shambles of a government has to be brought to an end."
The European Union said it was "crucial" that Dublin passes the bill before elections. Ireland is the second eurozone nation to seek a bailout after Greece needed emergency help last year.
"It is important for Ireland's stability and credibility that this finance bill is passed soon," Amadeu Altafaj, spokesman for EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn, said in Brussels.
Delays on the Irish rescue could also throw back into turmoil the EU's attempts to soothe markets worried about wider eurozone debt levels and a patchwork political response to date.
Nominations for the race to succeed Cowen as Fianna Fail leader closed on Monday with four candidates throwing their hats into the ring: Lenihan, former foreign minister Micheal Martin, Social Protection Minister Eamon O Cuiv and Sports Minister Mary Hanafin.
A secret ballot of the parliamentary party will take place on Wednesday.
The bookies' favourite is Martin, who resigned as foreign minister after he launched a failed leadership bid against Cowen last Tuesday.
But Cowen's attempt to use Martin's departure and five other apparently coordinated cabinet resignations to force a reshuffle backfired and led to him quitting as leader of the party, which he has led since becoming premier in May 2008.
The Green party vetoed any new reappointments and pressured Cowen into announcing the March 11 general election date.
Pressure on Cowen over his handling of Ireland's economic crisis has mounted in recent weeks after it emerged he had played golf with the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick.
Anglo Irish had to be nationalised to prevent its collapse, and has become a symbol of the bad debts amassed by the banks which ravaged an economy once so vibrant it was dubbed the "Celtic Tiger".
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