Brussels, 10/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - The chances of seeing the Lisbon Treaty approved by the Irish in the second referendum expected in September or October have increased significantly since 9 June, with the announcement by Irish businessman and founder of “Libertas” Declan Ganley that he was retiring from politics and would no longer campaign against the new treaty. “I will not be involved in the second Lisbon campaign,” he stated. Following his success in the first referendum in June 2008, when his “anti-Lisbon” movement persuaded Irish voters to reject the treaty, the multi-millionaire founded the pan-European “Libertas” movement to take part in the European elections and turn it into a “referendum on Europe”, against the Lisbon Treaty and against the “anti-democratic establishment in Brussels” (see EUROPE 9802). It has all fallen apart at the seams, however. With only one candidate elected to the new European Parliament - Frenchman Philippe de Villiers - Libertas' disastrous election has led Ganley to throw in the towel. “I sought a democratic mandate (to continue to oppose the Lisbon Treaty) and I didn't get one, and that's how democracy works,” he admitted, adding, “And, as I said, I can take No for an answer”. With the withdrawal of its founder, there is, to say the least, uncertainty over the future of the Libertas movement, which had managed to establish support in virtually every member state over the last few months. Ganley acknowledged that it was no longer for him to decide. Similarly, Sinn Fein MEP Mary Lou McDonald, who campaigned against the Lisbon Treaty in the first referendum, was not re-elected. According to the latest opinion polls, 54% of Irish voters intend to vote for the treaty this autumn. Next week's European Council is expected to approve the “legal guarantees” that Dublin has called for before announcing the date of the second referendum. UK MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE), who has been re-elected, has welcomed Ganley's withdrawal. “Mr Ganley's vainglorious attempt to derail the Lisbon Treaty has failed comprehensively,” Duff said in a press release, declaring that it is impossible to call oneself “pro-European” and at the same time “anti-Lisbon”. (H.B./transl.rt)