A file picture of Sarah Palin in St Paul, Minnesota. (AFP)

New York, July 4: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska abruptly announced yesterday that she was quitting at the end of the month, shocking Republicans across the country and leaving both parties uncertain about whether she was leaving national politics or laying the groundwork for a presidential run.

Palin, 45, the Republican vice-presidential nominee last year, was supposed to serve till the end of 2010; she said she would cede control of the state to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell on July 26.

Speaking outside her home in Wasilla, Palin offered conflicting signals about her intentions and her motivation.

In her tone and some of her words in an often-rambling announcement, she sounded like someone who was making a permanent exit from politics after what her friends have called a rough and dispiriting year.

But her remarks, delivered in a voice that often seemed rushed and jittery, sounded at times like those of a candidate with continued national aspirations, as when she suggested she could “fight for all our children’s future from outside the governor’s office”.

Palin said that she had decided not to seek re-election when her term expires at the end of next year and that she did not think it was fair to her constituents to continue in office.

“As I thought about this announcement that I would not seek re-election,” she said: “I thought about how much fun other governors have as lame ducks. They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions.”

“I’m not going to put Alaskans through that,” she said. “I promised efficiencies and effectiveness. That’s not how I’m wired. I’m not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual.”

The news conference came at the end of a week in which a Vanity Fair article about Palin brought renewed focus on many of the criticisms of her as a candidate for vice-president under Senator John McCain of Arizona and set off a new round of recriminations among McCain’s advisers about her competence.

But while Palin has been derided by much of the Republican elite, she remains extremely popular with many grass-roots members, especially social and religious conservatives.

Palin’s announcement was another unusual marker in what has been a tumultuous year for this first-term governor since McCain turned her into a national figure overnight by surprising his own party and naming her his running mate. It also underscored the instability in the Republican Party as it tries to find a strategy and voice in the wake of losses in 2008.

Quitting mid-term is highly unusual. It set off speculation about what led her to leave so abruptly. One interpretation among Republicans was that she had simply underscored how erratic she is as a politician. “Good point guards don’t quit and walk off the floor if the going gets tough,” said John Weaver, a former McCain strategist.