CANADA: Canadians vote in a federal election today which is likely to strip the ruling liberals of their parliamentary majority and leave the balance of power in the hands of Quebec separatists.
Polls show the liberals of Prime Minister Mr Paul Martin - badly hurt by a patronage scandal after a decade in power - will end up level with the opposition conservatives, a right-wing movement created only six months ago.
Neither party is predicted to gain anywhere near the 155 seats needed to control the 308-seat parliament, and political experts believe whoever ends up in power, the new government stands little chance of surviving more than a year.
"We are heading toward a dysfunctional parliament. There is no way this can work given the numbers," said Mr Barry Kay, a political science professor at Waterloo's Wilfred Laurier University and one of Canada's leading parliamentary experts.
Barring a last-minute sensation, Canada will end up with its first minority government since 1979. That would be little short of humiliating for Mr Martin, a popular former finance minister who took over from fellow liberal Mr Jean Chretien last December amid predictions he would win at least 200 seats.
Mr Martin promised radical change, but never recovered from a devastating official report in February which showed CAN$100 million in government funds was funnelled to firms with close liberal ties.
The fortunes of the liberals are now so poor that to stay in power they will have to seek support from the left-leaning New Democrats, but the two parties together are unlikely to be able to muster a majority in Parliament.
The likely kingmakers will be the Bloc Quebecois, a party which wants independence for the French-speaking province of Quebec, and looks set to gain around 60 seats.