CANBERRA--Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has dared her political rival, former foreign minister Kevin Rudd, to challenge her in a leadership vote next week, hoping to end infighting that threatens to sink the minority government and its reform agenda.
Gillard called on Thursday for the vote to be held by ruling-party lawmakers on Monday, gambling that a victory for her would silence Rudd who she accused of trying to destabilise her unpopular government and regain the top job.
The Gillard-Rudd rivalry has been brewing since she replaced him as prime minister in a late-night coup in 2010. It burst into the open on Wednesday when Rudd quit as foreign minister, saying he could no longer work with Gillard and that she could not win the next election, due next year.
"Following Kevin Rudd's resignation yesterday, I have formed this view that we need a leadership ballot in order to settle this question once and for all," Gillard told reporters, keeping composed and trying to contrast Rudd as a "chaotic" leader.
"For far too long we have seen squabbling within the Labor Party. Australians are rightly sick of this, and they want it brought to an end," she said. Gillard said she expected Rudd to stand for the leadership, though he had yet to declare whether he would stand.
A Monday vote limits Rudd's ability to build sufficient support to replace Gillard. Rudd is travelling back to Australia from Washington, where he was on an official visit when he suddenly quit as foreign minister.
The latest crisis has been prompted by poor opinion polls for Gillard's minority government and concerns the party would be decimated at the next election. Rudd, speaking in a final televised news conference from Washington before boarding a flight home, said he was pleased with the support he had received from his colleagues, and he was being encouraged to run against Gillard.
"I'm very pleased and encouraged by the amount of positive support and encouragement of me to contest the leadership of the Labor Party," Rudd said.
Opinion polls show Rudd remains more popular with voters although he is not well liked within the government. Gillard is backed by most of the government's 103 lawmakers, including most senior cabinet members, and Rudd is considered unlikely to have the numbers to mount a successful challenge. Bookmakers put the odds of a Gillard victory at $1.25 versus $3.75 for Rudd.
There are few policy differences between Gillard and Rudd, with the contest more about who can appeal more to voters. However, a surprise victory by Rudd could force an early election and change of government, putting at risk the future of key reforms such as a carbon tax and 30 percent tax on coal and iron ore mine profits, both due to start on July 1.
