OTTAWA, June 4: While Canadian ministers rallied around Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday after his abrupt sacking of Finance Minister Paul Martin, backbenchers angry at the dismissal mounted a campaign to boot out Chretien.

Chretien supporters said he had to act and urged their Liberal colleagues not to squander the party’s strong political lead by internecine fighting, but Martin allies were undeterred.

“I’m now very firmly in the belief that it’s time for Paul Martin to assume his rightful role in springing from backbencher now to prime minister and I’ll be working toward that between now and February,” Member of Parliament Dan McTeague told CBC Radio.

Martin, who was widely seen as the successor to Chretien, was dumped by the prime minister on Sunday afternoon after three days of mounting tensions between the two leadership rivals finally burst into the public light.

On Thursday, Chretien had ordered Martin and other cabinet ministers to stop their campaigns to succeed him, all the while demanding they sign up people to support him at the Liberal Party’s review of his leadership next February.

Chretien’s crackdown prompted Martin to declare on Friday evening that he was considering his future. The prime minister reacted by replacing him on Sunday with John Manley, who, like Martin, is in the fiscally conservative wing of the Liberals.

In Parliament on Monday Chretien said Manley would do the same excellent job that Martin had done. He also declared he had no intention of provoking a new federal election: “No one wants to have an election at this time.”

For Manley’s part, he defended his boss, with whom he is increasingly closely associated.

“I don’t think that it should be said it is a government in crisis,” Manley told reporters in Montreal after delivering his first speech as finance minister.

“Obviously this is a challenging and difficult time for the government. But you can only have one prime minister at a time, you can only have one leader of the party at a time, and the government of Canada is a lot bigger than any one person.”

The rift between Chretien and Martin has shattered the unified facade of the Liberals, who try to avoid airing such political laundry in public, with open calls by Martin backers to dump Chretien.

“He (Chretien) said if you guys want to organize, then get out of the cabinet. So it means that those of us who aren’t in cabinet can do whatever we want,” said Martin supporter Joe Volpe, adding it was clear Canadians wanted a change.

“We need some renewal in the party. That requires Paul Martin as leader,” another member of Parliament said privately. “I don’t see an end to this infighting.”

Martin backers said it was liberating to act without the threat of Martin being fired hanging over their heads. But cabinet itself was all publicly on Chretien’s side.

“There is some turbulence right now, but I have every confidence that the prime minister is seriously at the helm,” Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in Mexico City. “We have a solid government in Canada. A strong government in Canada.”

Among those with a vested interest in supporting Chretien are several ministers — such as new Finance Minister Manley — who would like to succeed the prime minister but who need more time to build their own support because they do not have anywhere close to Martin’s yet.

Martin will remain a member of Parliament and able to make his voice heard in the Liberal caucus, but he planned to keep a relatively low profile for the next couple of days.

But in a key switch, his camp was no longer saying — as it had for many months — that Martin was organizing only for the eventual day when Chretien decides to retire.

Until Sunday’s cabinet shuffle, Martin’s closest advisor had been saying they would not work to push Chretien out. Asked on Monday if that was still the case, one senior advisor said: “I think the question has to be reflected upon. The prime minister has changed the ground rules.”

He added: “I’m not sure (Chretien) has the confidence of the Liberal Party.”—Reuters