(Quebec) With the appointment of Marc Tanguay as interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), the member for the riding of Nelligan in Montreal, Monsef Derraji, becomes parliamentary leader of the official opposition in Quebec.
Posted at 3:54 p.m.
Mr. Derraji succeeds Mr. Tanguay, who held this position until last Thursday, when he took over from the resigning chef Dominique Anglade. As soon as work resumes on November 29, he will respond to government leader Simon Jolin-Barrette. Mr. Derraji, who was re-elected last October 3 for a second term, also expressed his interest last week in order to be a candidate in the next race for the leadership of the PLQ.
“If I trust the last messages I received, there are a lot of people encouraging me to go ahead, precisely to have a race where we will debate bold ideas. I think it’s healthy for the Liberal Party of Quebec to have a race, to have several candidates, and I encourage those who want the Liberal Party to return to the political spectrum to get started,” said said Mr Derraji, adding that a final decision would be announced once the rules of the race are announced, probably next year.
The Liberals will meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in a pre-session caucus in Quebec City. The party’s interim leader, Marc Tanguay, gave no news of the meeting he had last weekend with independent MP Marie-Claude Nichols. The latter was expelled from the Liberal caucus, while Dominique Anglade was still leader, after she had refused the responsibilities that we wanted to entrust to her. Mme Nichols wanted to obtain a post of vice-president of the National Assembly, but her former leader supported the candidacy of another of her colleagues, the deputy Frantz Benjamin.
“I intend to contact Marie-Claude Nichols quickly to sit down with her and have a good chat with her. You will allow me to do it privately,” Mr. Tanguay said last week. Without Mme Nichols in its ranks, and with the departure of Dominique Anglade, the Liberals have only 19 MPs left in the Blue Room. It should be noted that the political parties that have had deputies elected to Parliament these days negotiate the budgets associated with each parliamentary group according to their number of elected members.
The PLQ also announced on Monday that the member for Jeanne-Mance–Viger, Filomena Rotiroti, will be chief whip of the official opposition, while Enrico Ciccone will be president of the caucus. Virginie Dufour, a newly elected representative from the riding of Mille-Îles in Laval, will be deputy parliamentary leader.