Activists seduced by the work of the ex-editorialist at The Press André Pratte within the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) are asking him to be in the leadership race in 2025, to the point where the main interested party is considering making the jump, we have learned The duty.
According to our information, Mr. Pratte is now considering being a candidate for the position of leader of the PLQ, encouraged as he is by the positive comments from activists about his work on relaunching the party.
Barely two weeks ago, before submitting his report on the renewal of the PLQ, the former senator had clearly indicated to the Duty that he did not wish to be in the ranks.
Privately, however, Mr. Pratte would like the vision of Quebec liberalism proposed by the committee on the revival of the PLQ – a committee that he co-chaired – to be highlighted during the leadership race.
To promote the ideas of the committee, among others, Mr. Pratte is therefore considering running for office, we learned.
“Improve” the quality of the race
Germain Chevarie, Liberal MP for Îles-de-la-Madeleine from 2008 to 2012 and from 2014 to 2018, is one of those who approached Mr. Pratte during the party’s general council in Drummondville. “I think that Mr. Pratte has qualities that would surely allow him to be a good candidate. He is an excellent communicator, he could very well do well in this game,” he told Duty.
Mr. Chevarie clarified that he was not taking a position in favor of Mr. Pratte. In his opinion, the ex-journalist could “increase the quality of the leadership race by submitting his candidacy and even encourage other people to do so.”
His parliamentary inexperience does not scare him. ” Look [le chef du Parti québécois]Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, he had no experience in the National Assembly and I think he does a good job overall,” he illustrated.
“Mr. Pratte still has good credibility in Quebec and in the PLQ,” noted Mr. Chevarie. He also “experienced the political aspect” by being a senator in Ottawa from 2016 to 2019. Above all, he delivered, with his report on the relaunch of the PLQ, the fruit of “serious, rigorous and relevant work”, underlined the former Madelinot MP. ” I would say the same [un travail] avant-garde with recommendations which, I think, may be of interest to Quebecers, among others on the Constitution of Quebec and also on the abolition of the Senate to convert it into a provincial chamber,” he continued.
So far, only MP Frédéric Beauchemin has expressed interest in the PLQ leadership race. MP Monsef Derraji, who renounced it, said he could ultimately be a candidate for the post if an insufficient number of candidates come forward. His colleagues André Fortin and Marwah Rizqy announced that they would not be in the race. Federal Minister François-Philippe Champagne and the current mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, did the same.