The race for the position of female co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire (QS) has not officially begun, but the Member for Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, has already gathered support. Two of his caucus colleagues gave him their support on Saturday, bringing the number of elected officials in his camp to four.
The elected representative of Maurice-Richard, Haroun Bouazzi, and of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Alexandre Leduc, took advantage of the national training council, in Saint-Hyacinthe, to side with the elected representative from Estrie, who wishes to succeed Manon Massé as female spokesperson for QS. Ms. Labrie already had two colleagues on her team, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard and Étienne Grandmont.
Approached by journalists in the middle of the morning, Alexandre Leduc, clarified that he would keep a certain “distance” with the race, as parliamentary leader of QS. However, he revealed that he was recently in a relationship with Ms. Labrie. “She’s my sweetheart,” he said.
“I’m going to save myself a certain embarrassment so as not to pitch in this campaign, but I always found that it had a certain unifying side, a unifying side, ”he underlined. A few minutes later, his colleague Haroun Bouazzi anticipated the announcement of his support for Ms. Labrie, also welcoming her “listening”.
“She showed in her campaign in Sherbrooke that she is capable of winning with panache despite the difficulties,” noted the supportive MP.
Zanetti supports Ghazal
Saying he wanted to support an “uninhibited separatist leader”, the elected solidarity leader Sol Zanetti for his part broke with the ambient discourse on Saturday, by siding with the elected official of Mercier, Ruba Gazhal. But “there is no disaster scenario in this race,” he relativized. “These are all exceptional candidates. But here, a choice has to be made. »
Asked about her delay compared to her colleague Labrie, Ms. Gazhal maintained that “it is not a race to see who will have the most deputies”.
The whole caucus will not decide on the race. Ms. Massé, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and QS whip Alejandra Zaga Mendez have already indicated that they will remain neutral until the vote in November. There are therefore two undecided, Vincent Marissal and Andrés Fontecilla.
The third candidate for the co-spokesperson, the former deputy for Rouyn-Noranda — Témiscamingue Émilise Lessard-Therrien, is the only one to have no support in the parliamentary wing, however she was supported by former candidates. solidarity, like Philippe Pagé and Carol-Ann Kack.
The QS national council continues Saturday and Sunday, in Saint-Hyacinthe.