Paul Martin won't be handed the Liberal leadership crown and the key to the prime minister's office without a fight, Finance Minister John Manley predicted Sunday.

"The Liberal party wants and needs a contest for the leadership," Manley told CTV's Question Period. "They want a chance to talk and debate.

"The notion of a coronation is not a thing they want to see."

Manley, who said he intends to challenge his cabinet predecessor, is not expected to make a formal announcement until after he delivers his first federal budget next month.

"My duty is first to the government and the people of Canada to put a budget together," Manley said. "I can't be running around trying to do a campaign when I need to be clearly focused on that."

Industry Minister Allan Rock abandoned his leadership aspirations last week, saying he had virtually no chance of putting a dent in the Martin juggernaut that's steaming, by most accounts, towards a leadership landslide.

Manley, who noted that Pierre Trudeau didn't enter the 1968 Liberal leadership race until two months before the party's convention, told Question Period he's not convinced that Liberal delegates have already cast their ballots for Martin.

"There are Liberals across the country that have gone on from day to day thinking that the succession was kind of there, and when the time came Paul Martin would become the leader," he said. "But when candidates get into it and ideas start getting debated, those people are going to say 'let's think about this.'"

Manley, a fierce loyalist of Prime Minister Jean Chretien, also denied reports that his potential leadership bid was merely an opportunity for Chretien to place a "stalking horse" in the leadership contest.

"I think that's a silly idea," Manley said. "To take on a challenge like this is formidable."

An ongoing leadership spat between Chretien and Martin split the Liberal caucus last year and prompted Chretien to drop Martin from cabinet after nine years as finance minister. It also caused Chretien to make an early disclosure of his Feb. 2004 retirement date.

"I wouldn't go into it because I want to run against Paul Martin -- Paul's my friend -- but I'd run for ideas and an opportunity to engage in debate and talk about the direction of the country."

Manley and other potential leadership candidates, including Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, are also waiting for the party to change controversial rules regarding the recruitment of delegates.

Party riding associations -- many of which are controlled by Martin supporters -- have nearly total control over the distribution of membership forms, making it difficult to recruit new delegates for the party's November convention.

Manley said he expects the party to loosen the rules, which critics say were put in place to bolster Martin's leadership bid. "He (Martin) is not a stupid politician. It would be pretty stupid of his team to shut down democracy in the Liberal party on the eve of a leadership (convention). I think they're not stupid.

"I believe it's in Paul's interest to see to it that we have an open process. Otherwise, how can he talk about democracy in the course of his campaign?"

Martin kicked off his leadership campaign last year by criticizing the "democratic deficit" in Parliament. He says too much power is concentrated in the prime minister's office and that rank and file MPs should have more control over Parliamentary debate and proceedings.