TORONTO (AP) – Canada’s Parliament voted to adjourn early for a third consecutive day Friday, as the struggle between the scandal-ridden Liberals and election-hungry Conservatives descended further into chaos.

The House of Commons has been at a virtual standstill for weeks as the Opposition ties it up in shouting matches and motions to adjourn.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, seizing on a corruption scandal within Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal Party, said he would continue to obstruct Parliament until the Liberals agree to a vote of no-confidence.

“It could go on until the government or the governor general is forced to admit that the government has lost its mandate to govern the country,” Harper said Friday.

Under Canada’s Parliament system, the governor general is required to monitor the workings of the House and can suggest the prime minister dissolve Parliament and trigger new elections. He does not have to follow her advice.

Martin has already agreed to hold a vote of no-confidence next Thursday, after he presents his federal budget for debate. If he loses – which appears likely – Martin would be forced to disband Parliament and call elections for new federal MPs, likely toward the end of June.

Martin has pleaded with his opponents to allow him to remain in office until his popular federal budget proposal is passed.

His minority government had planned to inject $10.6 billion to improve the country’s military and calls for tax cuts for lower-income Canadians, increases in foreign aid and a new national child-care program.

“For heaven’s sake, pass the budget,” Martin said during a visit to Newfoundland to sign one portion of his child-care plan.

The political crisis stems from a federal inquiry into allegations the Liberal Party funneled millions of dollars into its coffers via a slush fund to promote nationalism in Quebec.

Martin, who has not been implicated in the scandal, ordered the national unity program dissolved when he became prime minister last June and demanded a federal inquiry into the allegations of money laundering and kickbacks.