Two candidates from the Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough for Mouvement Montreal, the party of Balarama Holness, have decided to abandon the electoral race.
They are Jean-Philippe Martin, who coveted the post of city councilor for the district of Hochelaga, and Sylvain Medzalabenleth, candidate for the same post for the district of Maisonneuve-Longue-pointe.
Elections Montreal announced the two withdrawals in the morning of Saturday.
Jean-Philippe Martin expressed to Press that he had decided to keep his comments to himself until after the November 7 poll.
In an email sent to Press, Balarama Holness, the candidate for mayor of Montreal and leader of Mouvement Montreal, said he wished “good luck” to the two former candidates. “I hope they will be successful in their next adventure,” he added.
Fewer players for Mouvement Montreal
Mr. Martin and Mr. Medzalabenleth were initially in the race under the party of Rally for Montreal, of Marc-Antoine Desjardins.
Remember that Ralliement pour Montréal and Mouvement Montréal merged on September 30. This Tuesday, Marc-Antoine Desjardins abandoned the electoral race by announcing that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the post of mayor in the borough of Outremont. Ralliement pour Montréal and Mouvement Montréal had major differences in terms of the status of the French language and the definition of the police.
On October 12, Balarama Holness reiterated that if elected, he would hold a referendum for Montreal to obtain bilingual city status.
Three other candidates have withdrawn from Mouvement Montréal since the start of the election campaign. They are Marc-André Bahl (district of Marie-Victorin), Jean-Pierre Boivin (district of Champlain-L’Île-des-Sœurs), and Katchik Ebruchumian (district Robert-Bourassa).
Balarama Holness suffered another blow this week when CBC published a report on the nonprofit he founded, Montreal in Action. Former members have publicly asserted that Mr. Holness does not have the qualifications to lead Montreal. Between November and December 2020, almost all of the board and executive team members of Montreal in Action resigned from their posts, some because they felt ignored and their work sabotaged.