Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada faced the stiffest challenge to his leadership from fellow elected Liberal Party members Wednesday during a closed-door meeting where he was urged to resign to avoid torpedoing the party’s chances in the next election.

For more than a year, the Liberals under Trudeau have trailed the Conservative Party by double digits in polls, suggesting that the Liberal Party could face a crushing defeat in the next election, which must be held by next October.

Panic within the party intensified after the Liberals recently lost two special parliamentary elections in districts that had been considered their strongholds.