Dumped Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will quit parliament this week, reports said Tuesday, in another headache for Australia’s rattled government which will temporarily lose its tiny one-seat majority. The moderate was deposed in a Liberal party coup last week driven by a hardline conservative faction, AFP reported. After being knifed, he indicated he would leave parliament rather than go to the backbench and told a party gathering on Monday evening he would officially resign on Friday, broadcaster ABC and Fairfax Media reported. His departure will trigger a by-election for his Sydney seat, potentially on Oct. 6, leaving new Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a precarious position with no parliamentary majority for two weeks. Turnbull’s seat in the wealthy Sydney enclave of Wentworth is traditionally a Liberal safe haven, although a backlash against the government’s political infighting could make this less certain.
