[GEO.TV] Australian Senator Fatima Payman Thursday resigned from Labour party saying it was with "a heavy heart but a clear conscience". She has decided to work as an independent lawmaker and sit on the crossbench "to represent the western Australia".
The party had earlier suspended the senator for voting in support of a motion on Palestinian statehood, against the party policy.
Payman said on the one hand she had great support from common Labour party members, unionists and volunteers who were calling on her to "hang in there and make change happen internally".
“On the other hand, I am pressured to conform to caucus solidarity, and toe the party line. I see no middle ground, and my conscience leaves me no choice.”
She said the Israeli genocide in Gaza is a “tragedy of unimaginable proportions”. It was “a crisis that pierces the heart and soul, calling us to action with a sense of urgency and moral clarity”.