The Canadian parliament passed a nonbinding opposition motion on Monday urging Prime Minister Paul Martin to call an election in January, an idea which the ruing minority Liberal government has already rejected.

The House of Commons easily passed the motion moved by the New Democratic Party (NDP) by 167 to 129 Monday evening.

If the Liberals ignore the motion, the Conservative Party will introduce a formal no-confidence motion on Thursday. That motion is scheduled to come to a vote next Monday.

If nothing changes, the Martin government will likely fall by Nov. 28 or 29. Most observers anticipate the voting day will be Jan. 16.

The opposition parties have been taking advantage of declining support for the Liberals after a judicial report early November found the party received kickbacks in exchange of advertising contracts for promoting federalism in the French speaking province of Quebec.

Martin has promised to call an election campaign to start within 30 days of the release of the final judicial report, which is due Feb. 1. That means an election in April.

According to recent polling results, the Liberals have the support of about 36 percent decided voters, compared with the 27 percent for the Conservative, and 16 percent for the NDP.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2005)