Québec solidaire (QS) is engaging in “negative politics” by asserting that the Parti Québécois (PQ) advocates “closed independence”. And this can only hurt him, believes the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
“What I mean by negative politics is to discredit one’s adversaries, to distort words, to amplify through the words we choose to try to make a small political gain”, underlined the elected representative of Camille-Laurin on Tuesday , on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of MP Pascal Paradis.
“If Québec solidaire makes this choice, it [lui] belongs, but I don’t think the population particularly appreciates this kind of approach,” he continued.
Gathered for a debate on independence on Monday evening, the three candidates for the position of co-spokesperson for QS, Christine Labrie, Émilise Lessard-Therrien and Ruba Ghazal, attacked nationalist positions in unison. divisive” of the Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois.
“When I see the PQ having a speech about closing the borders, for me, it is not progressive. […] I don’t see how we can think of achieving the independence of Quebec with such a divisive approach,” said the member for Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, who also agrees that independence is not “the priority” for her.
In a press scrum on Tuesday, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon deplored these “partisan attacks”. On the social network “I imagine that Québec solidaire, with 17% [du vote]is more unifying than the 44% of the Parti Québécois” in the Jean-Talon by-election, he wrote.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, also joined in by attacking the independence of QS, an independence “conditional on the party program […]and of course on the condition of treating the nationalists as racists,” according to him.
“The day after a debate dedicated to independence where no one called anyone racist, [M. Blanchet] attacks the biggest independence caucus in [l’Assemblée nationale]. It’s a shame,” solidarity co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois replied on X.
Further details will follow.