Report Harper is preparing to announce resignation 'absolutely false': spokesman

Prime Minister Stephen Harper answers a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has no plans to announce his resignation after he returns from his trip to Israel next month, his communications director says.

Jason MacDonald told CTV News that a media report speculating that Harper will resign after his January trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority is “absolutely false.”

“The Prime Minister intends to lead the Conservative Party into the next election,” MacDonald told Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife. “He intends to run in 2015.”

According to a story published in the National Post Wednesday, Harper’s trip had been planned for March but was moved up, “and big decisions are being put off.”

The report referred to “open speculation” in Ottawa that Harper will return from his trip “and announce he plans to resign as Prime Minister before Parliament returns for the spring session.”

MacDonald is quoted in the story as saying Harper’s trip was moved up due to “other obligations and the House schedule.”