It is not today that the Parti Québécois activists will know if their leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, is racing to win Marie-Victorin. The elected official maintained Tuesday that his decision was not made, despite the newly vacant status of the constituency.
“We have a strategy,” was content to say the PQ leader during a press briefing. He asks the government to start a by-election as soon as possible … without saying whether he will represent his party in this election.
It is the shadow which hovers above the head of “PSPP”. By running as a candidate for mayor of Longueuil, the independent MP Catherine Fournier risked since the beginning of giving up her seat as a provincial elected official in Marie-Victorin. His election on Sunday evening only confirms this reality.
On Monday, Ms. Fournier’s press secretary confirmed to the To have to that she would be leaving her county office within the next few days.
During his report at the end of the parliamentary session, last June, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon reiterated that he would not consider a candidate in the constituency of Longueuil before it becomes available. “This is one hypothesis among many others. I will take a stand only if and when this situation arises, ”said the unelected leader.
Now that the situation is about to arise, Quebec political parties are preparing the ground. On Monday, the Liberal Party pledged to clear the way for the PQ leader if he embarks on the race, reported Press. Québec solidaire, for its part, wishes to present a candidacy.
The Parti Québécois maintained until now that no decision was taken by its leader. The sovereignist formation has controlled Marie-Victorin since its creation in the 1980s, with the exception of a liberal hiatus of one and a half years. The constituency was the stronghold of former minister Bernard Drainville.
Further details will follow.