The abandonment of the oath to the king in the National Assembly could happen as early as next week. A bill making it optional has been included in the legislative program, and a consensus is emerging in the Blue Room.
The Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions, Jean-François Roberge, put his bill on the order paper of the National Assembly on Friday “aiming to recognize the oath provided for by the Act respecting the National Assembly as the only compulsory oath to sit there”. According to parliamentary rules, it can be tabled no earlier than Tuesday.
Already, the government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) has said it is ready to adopt the text of the law by using the accelerated procedure. By obtaining a consensus of all the parties represented in Parliament, he could therefore allow the non-sworn elected members of the Parti Québécois to sit next week.
So far, the Liberal official opposition has not committed to participating in this agreement. Earlier this week, the interim leader of the Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, had demanded a parliamentary commission on the oath, which would have greatly endangered an adoption before the end of the session next Friday. “I would like that, me, to hear constitutionalists tell us to what extent Quebec can do it,” he said on Tuesday.
Three days later, even if he still wants consultations, he no longer makes it a “condition sine qua non”. “If the bill contains exactly what we think, in other words make sure to make the oath to the king optional, it is clear that we are going to collaborate so that it is adopted quickly”, indicated Friday Mr. Tanguay.
The Liberal Party justifies its about-face in the saga of the oath to the king by the fact that “the population expects it”. “It’s clearly outdated. There is no one who will come and tell you: we take the oath to the king,” said Mr. Tanguay.
The refusal of the three elected members of the Parti Québécois to take the oath to King Charles III earned them to be turned back at the gates of the Blue Room on Thursday, after a decision by the President of the National Assembly. The leader of the PQ, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, still refuses, like his colleagues Pascal Bérubé and Joël Arseneau, to take the oath. He will therefore only be able to sit when the CAQ’s bill is sanctioned.