Quebec Liberal Party boss quits post

Outgoing president calls for unity

Antoine Atallah, president of the Quebec Liberal Party, has resigned from his post citing the need for unity. After a week of media reports of internal dissent over his leadership, Atallah called it quits Friday, publishing a long letter of resignation on his personal Facebook page. Off the top he says the October election, which saw the Liberals lose power to the Coalition Avenir Québec, did not end the way he wanted it to and he assumes his share of the blame. He does not address the controversy over his leadership directly except to say that, in his mind, the party needs unity and he considers his job reforming the structures of the 150-year-old party complete. But he says some of the reforms put in place have rendered the party “extremely bureaucratic,” making it difficult for a volunteer officer like himself to put in place a real vision. Radio-Canada, however, reported Friday that the Liberal caucus of elected MNAs itself asked for Atallah’s resignation. His resignation follows a tumultuous meeting last weekend in Bécancour of the party’s 125 riding presidents where a rift emerged over how fast to proceed with a leadership race to replace Philippe Couillard, who resigned after the 2018 election defeat. The executive, including Atallah, had wanted the meeting to be a general discussion on the future of the Liberal Party but a group of riding presidents spoke in favour of a speedier leadership process. Some said it is hard for the party to go about the business of developing a new program without knowing the vision of the new leader. The party, for example, just opted to stick with its traditional position on no restrictions on religious symbols despite the fact some believe taking a harder line might be a way to woo more nationalist votes back to the party. Faced with the revolt, party interim leader Pierre Arcand announced the leadership race rules would be revealed at a meeting of the party general council May 4-5 in Drummondville. On Friday, Arcand issued a statement thanking Atallah, who got involved in the party at age 17 and is now 32, for his years of service to the party. He added the party’s current vice-president, Katherine Martin, will act as party president in the interim until the Liberal executive decides who will replace Atallah. Atallah is the second big party name to step down in the wake of the election defeat. Businessman Alexandre Taillefer, who acted as party election campaign chairman, quit politics altogether after the vote. The field of potential Liberal leadership candidates recently narrowed.