Nothing is going well with the Liberal Party of Quebec. The agreement reached to bring MP Marie-Claude Nichols back to the fold turns sour.
• Read also: A little shuffling of the cards among the parliamentary officers of the PLQ
• Read also: Meeting scheduled between the interim leader of the PLQ and Marie-Claude Nichols
The new interim leader Marc Tanguay had made the reintegration of the elected representative of Vaudreuil into the Liberal team a priority. But after having offered the coveted position of 3rd vice-president to the elected representative of Vaudreuil, he had to withdraw his offer Monday evening, in the face of the threat of deputy Frantz Benjamin to slam the door of the caucus.
“After consultation with members of the caucus and activists working in party authorities, it appears that such an option is not viable and would not promote the cohesion of the Liberal team,” argued Mr. Tanguay, in a statement to the media.
Marie-Claude Nichols had nevertheless accepted the post, exceptionally for the last two years of her mandate. Deputy Benjamin, who was initially chosen by Dominique Anglade for this seat, would have inherited the position for the next two years.
Marc Tanguay had met with the MP on Sunday to convince her to return to the team. The two were even to appear before the media on Tuesday to formalize the agreement, which would have kicked off the three-day preparatory caucus of Liberal MPs for the return to parliament.
But things went wrong. The member for Viau had obviously not been consulted before the offer was made to Ms. Nichols. He expressed his dissatisfaction in an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday evening.
Faced with this new crisis, Marc Tanguay had to back down. “Concerning the third vice-presidency of the National Assembly, my decision has been made, and the position will be occupied by the deputy for Viau, Frantz Benjamin, over the next four years”, he finally decided.
It is therefore a return to square one. The Liberal interim leader ensures that the door of the Liberal caucus remains open for Marie-Claude Nichols. “I am ready to discuss with her the parliamentary and spokesperson responsibilities that will allow her return,” he insisted.
Derraji, parliamentary leader
Yesterday, the party also proceeded to a slight reshuffling of cards, due to the departure of Dominique Anglade.
Marc Tanguay having become interim leader, it is Monsef Derraji who inherits the function of parliamentary leader and Virginie Dufour, that of deputy parliamentary leader.
Filomena Rotiroti remains Chief Opposition Whip and Enrico Ciccone remains Caucus Chair.
— With the collaboration of Gabriel Côté