Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Monday accused her Labor party of self-indulgence after a farcical leadership coup against her, saying she was “appalled” by the events in an election year.
In announcing a cabinet reshuffle after several key ministers backed former prime minister Kevin Rudd to take her job, the nation’s first woman leader admitted that “while purpose has driven us on, unity has eluded us”.
“And that unity spectacularly eluded us last week,” she told reporters.
“Like Australians around the nation, I was appalled by the events of last week.
“My political party, the Labor party that I love very dearly, was self-indulgent. Our eyes were on ourselves rather than... being focused on the nation.”
The centre-left party has been riven by infighting as it slumps in opinion polls to lows from which it is widely seen as near-impossible to win the September 14 national election.
Several cabinet members who lost confidence in Gillard had pushed for a return to Rudd’s leadership given his enduring popularity with the electorate.