Stepping down

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that he would resign so that the Liberal Democrat Party could begin coalition talks with Brown's Labour Party.

British elections last Thursday resulted in a hung parliament, with neither of the major parties - center-left Labour and the center-right Conservatives - winning a majority in parliament. Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrat party came in third, allowing it to take on a kingmaker role for whichever of the major parties it chooses to form a coalition with.

The centrist Lib Dems spent the past three days holding coalition talks with the Conservatives, led by David Cameron.

Brown's announcement that he would "play no part" in the selection of the next Labour leader came as a surprise.

Brown said it was "in the interests of the whole country to form a progressive coalition government."

"The reason we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country," Brown said. "As leader of my party, I must accept that that is a judgment on me."

Brown said he hoped that a new leader would be chosen before the party conference in September.

svs/dpa/AFP
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