British Columbia's premier has for the first time ruled out a fall election campaign after months of hinting the province could be heading to the polls soon.
Instead, Premier Christy Clark's office said Wednesday that the next vote will be held according to the province's fixed election law in May 2013.
Clark was not available to explain her decision.
Clark was sworn in as premier in March after winning the Liberal leadership, and at the time Clark said she'd prefer a campaign before the fixed election date.
Last week, the government suffered a major defeat after voters rejected the harmonized sales tax, an outcome that some pundits have speculated would have dampened the premier's eagerness to head to the polls.
Immediately after the referendum results were released, Clark still kept the door open but insisted she wanted to focus on jobs, not election speculation.
But now her office says an early election is off the table.
The leader of the Opposition NDP, Adrian Dix, blamed Clark for fuelling "disruptive" election speculation.
"Her only consideration was her position in the polls -- not the public interest, not the issues facing British Columbia," Dix told reporters Wednesday evening.
"Ms. Clark has not responded to the key issues facing British Columbia. Instead, she has engaged in a perpetual election campaign that has brought disarray in her government."
