Rae expected to exit interim job to prepare for Liberal leadership

OTTAWA — Bob Rae is expected to step down as interim Liberal leader in late June to run for the party’s permanent leadership — a move that, essentially, will signal the start of the highly anticipated race.

Rae has not officially announced his intention to run, but it’s difficult to find anyone in Liberal circles who believes the man who has headed the party for close to a year now isn’t planning to throw his hat into the ring.

Recent comments to a newspaper in P.E.I. have further stoked such speculation.

“There’s going to be a contest for the leadership,” Rae told the Journal Pioneer on April. 14. “It’s not going to be a coronation for the leadership. It’s going to be a very competitive, open race. I’m just waiting to hear whether or not I’m allowed to participate in it.”

The only obstacle is whether the Liberal party’s board of directors will allow Rae to enter the race. In accepting the interim leadership following the Liberals’ thirdplace showing in the May federal election, Rae agreed to a stipulation laid out by the board that he would not run for the permanent leadership.

The board, which has a number of new members, including party president Mike Crawley, is currently in the process of establishing a committee to determine the rules and guidelines for the leadership race, which must take place sometime between March and June of 2013.

The committee will report its recommendations to the board in June of this year, at which point the date of the vote likely will be established — and Rae will learn whether he can run.