CANBERRA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Embattled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Thursday he would resign from the parliament if a second vote challenging his leadership in the ruling Liberal Party was convened Friday.
Turnbull had defeated Peter Dutton, former Home Minister in his cabinet, in a party room leadership ballot Tuesday. Dutton now called for a second vote to challenge Turnbull's leadership.
Turbull Thursday called on supporters of Dutton to produce a petition with signatures of 43 out of 85 Liberal Party of Australia Members of Parliament (MPs) for the second party meeting to be held on Friday.
If the meeting was convened, Turbull would not stand as a candidate at the ballot and would resign from parliament, he announced Thursday.
"The reality is that a minority in the party room supported by others outside the Parliament have sought to bully, intimidate others into making this change of leadership that they're seeking," Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
"I think what we're witnessing, what we have witnessed at the moment is a very deliberate effort to pull the Liberal Party further to the right."
It was reported that Treasurer Scott Morrison, a Turnbull supporter, was preparing to run against Dutton as a moderate candidate in place of Turnbull if a second ballot was held.
The meeting would only go ahead if the Solicitor General provided advice that Dutton was eligible to sit in parliament under section 44 of the Australian Constitution, Turnbull said.
It has been reported that Dutton holds a pecuniary interest in the Commonwealth, which, if true, would render him ineligible to sit in parliament.
"It's important that before the party meeting is held, we have access to the advice of the Solicitor-General on the eligibility of Mr Dutton to sit in the Parliament," Turnbull said.
"We expect that advice to be available first thing in the morning.
"That may impact on his decision to run or not."
Turnbull's likelihood of retaining the leadership took a blow on Thursday after a series of key ministers tendered their resignations in an act of support for Dutton.
The government took the extraordinary step of adjourning the lower house of parliament on Thursday while the leadership saga unfolded, a move that Turnbull said was requested by Dutton.
