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Quebec's Liberal premier wins third term
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-09 15:50 MONTREAL -- Quebec Premier Jean Charest won a third term in office, leading his federalist-leaning Liberals to victory in parliamentary elections in the French-speaking Canadian province.
The results of Monday's balloting marked the first time in more than 50 years that a party leader has won three consecutive election campaigns in Quebec. "This evening I am very proud to be the premier of Quebec ... but first and foremost, I am very proud to be a Quebecer," Charest said. Charest's Liberals regained a parliamentary majority, taking 66 of the 125 seats in the Quebec legislature, an apparent 24-seat gain from the last election in March 2007. Charest, who had headed a minority government, called the election with the goal of gaining a majority. Though the issue of Quebec's sovereignty was put on the shelf during this election campaign, Pauline Marois, who leads the separatist Parti Quebecois, reiterated its message of independence after a projected 15-seat gain to 51 seats and a second-place finish. "We showed that there will be a sovereigntist party in the National Assembly until sovereignty is achieved," Marois said. "It is our duty to keep our hopes up." The results represented a crushing setback for Mario Dumont, the one-time boy wonder of Quebec politics, whose conservative Action democratique du Quebec party won only seven seats. Marois announced plans to resign as party leader in the near future. An Iranian-born microbiologist Amir Khadir, co-leader of the leftist Quebec solidaire party, became the first member of his party to ever win a seat in the provincial legislature. The struggling economy was the dominant issue in the month-long campaign. Voters aligned with the 50-year-old Charest and his message that political stability would help stabilize the economy. In the campaign, Charest suggested that having "too many hands at the wheel" with a minority government would prevent the province's leaders from steering the economy in the right direction in the coming months. "Quebec is facing a serious economic crisis. This is the time for strong leadership," Charest said. The provincial election was overshadowed by the federal political crisis, as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stirred up what many perceived to be anti-Quebec sentiment in recent days. The Bloc Quebecois, which supports greater autonomy for Quebec, is backing efforts by two other federal opposition parties who have formed a rare political coalition to topple Harper's minority government. Harper called the coalition "separatist," and suggested the Bloc Quebecois was trying to gain power through the back door. Harper shut down Parliament until January 26, preventing the government from being toppled in a no-confidence vote. |
