FED:Political coups and the fear factor

AAP General News (Australia)
02-03-2012
FED:Political coups and the fear factor

By Don Woolford

CANBERRA, Feb 3 AAP - Happy political parties never have serious leadership tensions.

Unhappy ones have coups and while these vary in their details, they have one overriding
factor in common - fear.

There'll always be some combination of ambition, loyalty, hatred and ideological difference
in the lead-up to challenge; and usually there'll be chatter and subterranean trouble-making
that's stirred, shaken and magnified by the media to the point where resolution, usually
of the blood-letting variety, is inevitable.

But …