Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces two highly unpalatable choices after opposition parties signed an unprecedented deal on Monday to bring down his minority Conservative government.
The opposition, which says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the financial crisis, has its eyes set on a confidence motion due for a vote in Parliament next Monday.
The Liberals, New Democrats and separatist Bloc Quebecois signed a formal agreement designed to keep them in power until June 30, 2010. They promised a major stimulus package as well as help for the struggling auto industry.
Harper is maneuvering to head off the confidence vote. He was expected to ask Canada's governor general, Michaelle Jean, to call new elections or to suspend Parliament until next month, delaying his likely defeat in a confidence vote.
Jean is the personal representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state.
'Affront to Canadian democracy'
CTV television quoted Harper as telling a private meeting of Conservatives on Monday evening that he would take every legal option possible to stop what he called an "affront to Canadian democracy." Harper won a strengthened minority in an Oct. 14 election and says he should be allowed to govern.
Jean on Tuesday cut short a European trip to deal with the political crisis.
Heading back to Canada, Jean said she had received a letter from the three opposition parties formally advising her of their plan to topple Harper and urging her to let them form a coalition government.
"The prime minister and myself need to have a conversation," Jean told Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in Prague. "My door is open. I have to see what the prime minister has to say to me and what he is actually thinking of doing. I don't know exactly anything of his intentions yet."
Constitutional experts speculated Jean would probably allow the opposition to form a government since parliamentary elections were just held Oct. 14.
Nelson Wiseman, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, said it would be unprecedented for Harper to ask Jean to suspend Parliament until next month because he clearly doesn't have the confidence of Parliament.
"I don't think she should, but somebody else could say, 'Look, there's no precedent for you turning down a prime minister asking for it," Wiseman said.
The three opposition parties are also angry that Harper last week tried to eliminate public financing for political parties, a move that would hit them particularly hard.
Harper is upset that the coalition would have to rely on the Bloc Quebecois, which wants to break up Canada.
The opposition parties said the new prime minister would be Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who led his party to such a bad defeat on Oct. 14 that he has promised to step down once members choose a replacement in May.
New elections?
If the confidence vote goes ahead and Harper loses, he would then have to go to Jean and tell her he no longer has the confidence of Parliament. He would most likely ask her to call new elections but constitutional experts said she could well turn to the opposition first.
Harper vowed to fight the opposition plan.
"We will use all legal means to resist this undemocratic seizure of power," he told Conservatives at their annual Christmas party at an Ottawa hotel. "My friends, such an illegitimate government would be a catastrophe, for our democracy, our unity and our economy, especially at a time of global instability."
The uncertainty helped push down the Canadian dollar by 0.5 percent against its U.S. counterpart on Monday. It also angered prominent political and financial figures.
"Put Canada first and stop the nonsense," said Ed Stelmach, premier of the influential oil-producing western province of Alberta.
