Former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein liked to say that “in politics, ‘no’ means ‘maybe’ and ‘maybe’ means ‘yes’.”
It is true that a healthy hesitation is appropriate for a potential aspirant to the leadership of a political party. Too much haste can be seen as carelessness or a sign of unhealthy ambition. Even Lucien Bouchard, in whom all sovereignists saw a true messiah, let himself be prayed for a (short) moment before accepting the succession of Jacques Parizeau.
Obviously, a first-class ticket to the prime minister’s office is harder to turn down than a seat in the last row of a charter flight with countless stopovers without on-board service.
We understand the member for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy, to be “torn” by hearing the calls from those who see in her the only one likely to bring the PLQ back to life. “I always want to get started. Let’s see, I’m a runner. It sure tempts me […] but I must call myself to order,” she declared.
In politics as elsewhere, time can fix many things, even in the PLQ. Flaws can even turn into qualities. In January 2019, when she was already thinking about the leadership even though she had just been elected deputy, Mme Rizqy was roundly reprimanded by her colleagues for daring to say that the party should apologize for the years of austerity imposed by the Couillard government.
Faced with what was then perceived as an unforgivable lack of solidarity, we almost wondered whether he should not be expelled. She had accepted the blame, but without denying it. Today, it seemed like she had shown some character.
We will never know if the PLQ would have done better in the last elections if she had been elected leader in place of Dominique Anglade, whom she had not supported in the race to succeed Mr. Couillard. She had instead lined up behind her short-lived opponent, Alexandre Cusson.
On the other hand, of all those whose name is still mentioned, Mme Rizqy is certainly the one who could give hope to the liberals. Her colleague from Pontiac, André Fortin, who withdrew once again, launched a barely veiled appeal to her, declaring that she would make a “good leader” and that she would garner a lot of support within the party.
We must not have any illusions: it will not change the nature of the PLQ. The party will not be able to compete in nationalism with the CAQ. Mme Rizqy herself represents a constituency in which less than half of the voters are French-speaking. However, we can think that it could give it a clearer direction, and its effectiveness in the National Assembly no longer needs to be demonstrated.
If she decided to take the plunge, she would undoubtedly be elected without opposition, as Mme Anglade, with all due respect to the apostles of a “debate of ideas”. This does not mean that we would witness any “Rizkymania”. According to a Léger poll carried out last month, only 7% of Liberal voters saw her as the best leader for the PLQ, while 28% preferred interim leader Marc Tanguay, who has since given up being a candidate. In the population as a whole, it came first with only 11%.
It was still significantly better than the only other member of the National Assembly still “under consideration”, Frédéric Beauchemin (Marguerite-Bourgeoys), who only received 2% in the entire population and 1% among voters. liberals.
Politics is an area where work-family balance is particularly difficult, even more so for a party leader, and Mme Rizqy wants to have a second child. In the state of disrepair in which the PLQ finds itself, this conciliation appears to be an impossible mission. Everything in its time.
However talented the member for Saint-Laurent may be, it will take her a lot of time to make the PLQ a serious contender for power again. Long years during which it will inevitably wear out, until the day when it becomes more advantageous to offer a new face to voters.
For eight years, from 1950 to 1958, Georges-Émile
Lapalme strove to rebuild the PLQ, which had collapsed before the National Union. Of indisputable intellectual stature, his essay entitled For a policy became the program of the Quiet Revolution. When the time came to reap the fruit of his labor, however, liberal activists preferred Jean Lesage. The role of the sacrificial lamb would not suit M at allme Rizqy.