(Québec) Le chef du Parti conservateur du Québec, qui n’a fait élire aucun député le 3 octobre, mais qui a tout de même obtenu près de 530 000 voix, met en garde François Legault. Le premier ministre va « subir les conséquences de ses actes » s’il empêche Éric Duhaime de tenir des points de presse au parlement.
Publié à 11h53
Mis à jour à 12h08
« M. Legault, s’il décide que la démocratie, ce n’est pas important et que 530 000 Québécois, ça ne vaut rien pour lui, il va subir les conséquences de ses actes. S’il pense que c’est dehors […] and that we have to demonstrate and that we have to go out in the street because he has no place for us, because he is not democratic enough to let us enter the National Assembly, he will suffer the consequences of his decisions,” thundered Mr. Duhaime.
He then clarified that these were not threats. “He will suffer the consequences, it means that people will manifest themselves differently. In a democracy, voices must be heard within the walls of parliament,” he told the parliamentary press.
The day after the elections, Prime Minister François Legault had already closed the door to Mr. Duhaime’s demands. “It is not easy to allow unelected people to make press briefings at the National Assembly,” he said.
The Conservative leader held his press briefing at the Fontaine de Tourny, located in front of the Quebec parliament. Since no Conservative candidate was elected in one of the 125 ridings in Quebec, he has no right to enter and hold public activities there. He had obtained this privilege during the last legislature, since the defector Claire Samson had left the Coalition avenir Québec to join him.
Democratic deficit
“I had the chance to speak to Mr. Legault on election night. He told me that he was in a state of openness towards the opposition parties. He told me he was going to be humble, […] that he wanted to be unifying and open, and that he was eager to hear our proposals,” said Mr. Duhaime.
In his opinion, the “democratic deficit” is worse today than before the election with a “historic electoral distortion”. “That is a big problem for democracy. […] Before becoming a caquiste, I hope that [François Legault] is a Democrat, and I hope he will hear the conservative voice,” he said.
“It’s not normal that one out of six Quebecers is excluded from the National Assembly, and that 13% of the votes, that gives zero MPs out of 125. […] I understand that the PLQ and the CAQ do not want to reform the voting system. That being said, there is a way to find accommodations to ensure that there is a minimum of democratic functioning,” he said.
Organize events
His “plan A”: that the Conservative Party can be at the negotiating table, next week, with the other political parties to decide on the functioning of the Assembly for the next four years.
He wants to have the right to hold press briefings inside parliament and have an office. Mr. Duhaime wants access for himself and for his press secretary. But “many other questions” are in the balance, he underlines. For example, during the closed budget session, will the Conservative Party be invited? “Interest groups are entitled to it. We, are we going to have the right? he asked.
And if the negotiations turn sour, he has a plan B. “It’s sure that if plan A doesn’t work, in November, we’ll turn around and we’ll do something else,” he said. he says, adding that “protests” are part of his game plan.