HIVON EXITS PQ RACE
Forced to withdraw because of health reasons
Parti Québécois leadership candidate Véronique Hivon has withdrawn from the race citing health reasons.
In a statement issued by her team Friday, Hivon said she is pulling out because her case of labyrinthitis, a serious inflammation of the inner ear, has worsened, forcing her to cease all activities and rest for a minimum four weeks or risk the permanent effects of her illness.
“Faced with this reality, it is with a great deal of frustration that she is obliged to withdraw from the race for the PQ leadership,” the statement reads.
“Madame Hivon thanks from the bottom of her heart all members of her extraordinary campaign team who have shown their support since last May.”
“It’s not a choice,” Hivon’s press aide Pascale Sévigny added in an interview. “It’s fate. It’s bad luck. It’s very hard. She’s mad about the situation, which is beyond her control.”
The news took her four opponents by surprise and they rapidly lined up to express support and get well wishes for Hivon, who remains the MNA for Joliette.
“I know how much you invested of yourself in this race and how much it costs to pull out,” candidate Jean-François Lisée tweeted. “We are thinking a lot about you.”
“Get well soon to my friend Véronique,” added Alexandre Cloutier. “Come back well as soon as possible.”
“Thanks for advancing the cause of independence,” said candidate Martine Ouellet. “Get well soon. Quebec needs you.”
None of the candidates would speculate on what effect Hivon’s departure will have on the race. The PQ leader’s job became vacant with the resignation of Pierre Karl Péladeau in May.
In her statement, Hivon tells her supporters they are free to back whichever of the remaining candidates they want. She said she intends to stay neutral.
Her departure comes at a critical yet potentially gruelling phase of the race. After a lacklustre summer campaign, the candidates in the coming weeks square off for three debates, two official ones organized by the party and a third organized by the PQ student association at the Université de Montréal.
Observers had been keen to see Hivon take on perceived front-runner Cloutier. In the last PQ leadership race, which picked Péladeau as leader, Hivon backed Cloutier. This time she said she would fly on her own.
Her departure means the race is minus the one candidate promising to do politics differently, with the focus on consensus and cooperation, an approach that proved useful when she piloted Quebec’s end-of-life legislation.
At her campaign launch, she said she wanted to reinvent the ailing and aging PQ. She had attracted a young and diverse batch of supporters including a total of five PQ caucus members: Carole Poirier, Claude Cousineau, Sylvain Pagé, Mathieu Traversy and André Villeneuve.
As for sovereignty, she said it was a waste of time to debate the hows — such as referendum mechanics — before explaining the whys.
Besides Cloutier, Lisée and Ouellet, the fourth remaining candidate is Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The PQ will pick its new leader Oct. 7 in Lévis.