Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has refused to resign and called on his challengers to prove he had lost the confidence of his own party. Increasing number of senior ministers are abandoning Turnbull in what seems like an attempted coup.
Turnbull has said he will hold a second leadership vote on Friday only if he receives a letter signed by the majority of the ruling Liberal party.
On Tuesday, Trunbull faced what seemed like a touch and go situation but came out victorious with 48 votes for him against 35 votes opposing him. He won the votes against former home minister Peter Dutton. Dutton has again called for a second ballot on Thursday.
Key Turnbull supporter Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Turnbull no longer had majority party support and that Dutton was now the best person to lead the conservative government to the next election, due by May 2019.
Several ministers have tendered their resignation. The leadership crisis saw the government adjourn parliament on Thursday until September.
Turnbull said if he received a letter requesting a fresh vote with the signatures of 43 Liberal Party lawmakers, he would call a party meeting for midday Friday. If a leadership spill motion was then passed, he would not stand in the vote.
Whoever emerges as Australia’s next prime minister, they will become the country’s sixth prime minister in less than a decade. None of those, which includes two stints for Labor leader Kevin Rudd, have served a full term in office.
“Australians will be rightly appalled by what they are witnessing in their parliament,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.