Trudeau says: “I am a fight­er …. The fact is, de­spite best ef­forts to work through it, Par­lia­ment has been par­a­lyzed for months.” He says a new ses­sion of Par­lia­ment is need­ed.

Trudeau adds: “If I am hav­ing to fight in­ter­nal bat­tles, I can­not be the best op­tion in that elec­tion” to come.

Trudeau says he has asked the pres­i­dent of his Lib­er­al Par­ty to be­gin the process to se­lect a new leader.