Canadian Liberal party names new leader

OTTAWA, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The Canadian Liberal party caucus Wednesday approved former Harvard professor Michael Ignatieff as their interim leader for next month's political showdown.

The party's 77 Liberal members of Parliament and 58 senators met behind closed doors in Ottawa all morning before announcing the development. Members told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Ignatieff, who represents a part of Toronto, was nominated by Bob Rae, who had leadership aspirations until stepping back Tuesday in deference to his long-time friend.

Under the party's constitution, Ignatieff will remain an interim leader until a full party convention scheduled in Vancouver April 29 to May 3 ratifies him, the Canwest News Service said. Former leader Stephane Dion was to step down at the convention, but moved it up to last Monday to allow for his replacement to be found.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Ignatieff said he wasn't going to renegotiate a coalition formed two weeks ago with the socialist New Democratic Party and separatist Bloc Quebecois. Tuesday, he said "coalition if necessary, but not necessarily coalition."

Before the parties could vote down the minority Conservative government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked the governor general to suspend parliament until Jan. 26 to allow time for creating a budget.