PQ can win a majority government without QS, says Lisée
It is possible for the Parti Québécois to form a majority government in 2018 without the help of Québec solidaire, party leader Jean-François Lisée says.
Contradicting remarks made only hours earlier by his own house leader, Pascal Bérubé, Lisée said with or without the left-wing QS, the PQ is poised to win.
It would be easier with QS on board through the negotiation of some kind of non-aggression pact in key ridings, Lisée said, but he’s also trying to appeal to more right wing voters in the Coalition Avenir Québec so everyone is welcome.
“I think Pascal displayed less optimism than I,” Lisée said at a news conference correcting remarks made by a blunt-talking Bérubé earlier in the day.
“I think the PQ is very well positioned to form a majority government. We want to rally together people who believe in independence and who are progressives. And the PQ has interesting things to offer to people who are in the CAQ.
“If we have QS with us, it’s going to be even better but even without them I’m confident we’re going to win.”
With QS set to vote this weekend on the idea of a strategic alliance with the PQ, Bérubé suggested at an early morning news conference that it was time for both parties to indulge in a reality check on what the future holds.
As long as they don’t work together, the Liberals have a good chance of winning the election because they have a solid base of seats – many in Montreal, he said.
“It’s tough, because the Liberals have a threshold of seats which cannot be reduced,” Bérubé said. “At 8:10 p.m. the night of an election, the Liberals are already leading in 40 seats and by 8:20 p.m. the number grows to 50 and so on.
“We (in the PQ) are frankly putting the cards on the table.”
Over the last few weeks, the PQ and QS, which is left wing and sovereignist, have been dancing around the question of negotiating a pact in certain ridings where they are close competitors.
QS is to debate the issue this weekend at a policy convention.
On Wednesday, QS MNA Amir Khadir, who favours more cooperation, floated the idea of a swap between the two parties in 30 ridings.
QS would abstain from running candidates in 21 ridings in exchange for the PQ staying out of nine, including Verdun, Laurier— Dorion and Saint-Henri—Saint Anne.
However, Lisée, who got in trouble two weeks ago for pressing QS to make up its mind now about possible alliances to defeat the Liberals, was more cautious.
He said he will let QS decide first what it wants to do.