AUSTRALIA: Australian prime minister John Howard has declared that he will seek a fifth term at an election expected next year, crushing the leadership hopes of Peter Costello, his ambitious treasurer.
Mr Howard (67), who has become one of the world's most successful conservative leaders since his 1996 victory, had refused to confirm whether he would fight another election until yesterday.
He faxed his Liberal Party colleagues to say it was clearly the "strong view of the party" that he and Mr Costello should stay put in their jobs until the next poll.
The two men have had an exceptionally successful partnership in a coalition government which won majority control in both houses of parliament for the first time since the late 1970s.
Mr Costello (48) revived speculation about the party's leadership last month when he confirmed a newspaper report that Mr Howard had made a secret deal in 1994 to hand over the prime ministership in a second term.
The deal, which Mr Howard denied, mirrored the so-called "Granita" agreement between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Unlike Mr Blair however - who has agreed to make way for a successor, widely expected to be Mr Brown, before the next election - Mr Howard is still electorally popular and probably better positioned to dash his rival's hopes.
On Monday Mr Costello appeared resigned to his position, rejecting suggestions from some supporters that he should resign and formally challenge the prime minister. He insisted he would remain treasurer and work for Mr Howard's re-election.
"It doesn't matter how I feel," he said. "That's the outcome. I'm glad this issue has now been settled. It allows all of us to plan accordingly."
Mr Howard has been one of the closest allies of US president George Bush in the war on terror and took an interventionist stance over troubles in East Timor and the south Pacific.
Mr Costello, who is considered more liberal on social issues than Mr Howard, has presided over a decade of exceptional economic growth, tax cuts and budget surpluses that have eliminated net government debt. Unemployment has also been reduced to its lowest level in 30 years.
However, that strong economic record has been tarnished by concerns about higher interest rates because inflation is accelerating.
Mr Howard is already the second-longest serving Australian prime minister, after the conservative Robert Menzies, who held the office twice from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966.
Mr Howard is expected to face for the third time Kim Beazley, another veteran politician who made a comeback as Labor leader following his party's crushing defeat in October 2004.