Embattled Andre Boisclair ended his brief reign as leader of the Parti Quebecois and warned his party might need to engage in some self-examination.
"After the results of the March 26 election, the Parti Quebecois should note Quebecers' judgment and have some serious thought about its direction and its way of governing," he said Tuesday in Quebec City.
The PQ had one of its worst elections in decades, finishing in third place with 36 of 125 seats.
Since then, the knives have been out for Boisclair, with talk of a leadership review starting almost the next day.
Boisclair admitted that being PQ leader is a tough job.
"It's true that to lead this party it takes strength and courage,'' he said.
"I consider that I gave the best of myself in this position but the current conditions don't allow me to do this anymore."
He will stay as a member of the legislature.
While he has said the party should soft-pedal its call for a referendum on sovereignty, given the election results, Boisclair showed he still believed in the dream: "I'm deeply convinced that this brave nation will assume its freedom."
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has been rumoured to be interested in moving into provincial politics as a possible replacement for Boisclair.
In a television interview last weekend, Boisclair attacked Duceppe, saying he went to bed dressed up as the PQ leader.
Duceppe responded Sunday, saying he was "flabbergasted" by the comments.
The public move marked the first time that leaders of the two sister parties have ever spoken out against each other.
Duceppe praises Boisclair
Duceppe spoke Tuesday afternoon in Ottawa, where he offered praise for Boisclair and dodged questions about his own plans.
In reviewing Boisclair's involvement with the sovereignty movement, "he gave the best of himself, and he ran a very good election campaign," Duceppe told reporters.
"He made a noble decision in the best interests of the sovereigntist movement."
For himself, Duceppe said: "We are here to pay homage to Andre Boisclair. It is not for me to make a decision."
However, he also said, "We'll see in the future," adding he had to "reflect" and speak to his caucus, among others.
Duceppe has been a Bloc MP since 1990 and party leader for about a decade.
In question period, Prime Minister Stephen Harper mischievously said Duceppe seemed more "energized."
While Duceppe would appear to be a logical successor to Boisclair, some analysts don't think he's a slam dunk to return the PQ to power.
"I think he might be in the same situation that Jean Charest was in 1998," L. Ian McDonald told 麻豆影视net's Mike Duffy Live.
Charest, then the leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives, came under heavy pressure to return to Quebec as provincial Liberal leader. He won a majority in 2003 over the PQ but was reduced to a minority on March 26, winning only 48 seats.
"But (Duceppe's) moment may have been in 2005. The Bloc were a franchise on the rise ... now they're a bit on the decline," McDonald said.
In late 2005, the Bloc had support in the mid-50 per cent range.
According to an SES Research poll released Tuesday, the BQ is down substantially from those days:
- BQ - 35 per cent
- Liberals - 27 per cent
- Conservatives - 17 per cent
- NDP - 13 per cent
- Greens - 9 per cent
Boisclair's controversial tenure
A career politician, first getting elected at age 23, Boisclair had been a cabinet minister in the PQ governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry.
After the 2003 provincial election, Boisclair studied at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He was going to take a job in the corporate sector in Toronto when Landry --who presided over the party's 2003 loss to the Liberals -- quit as party leader almost immediately after getting 76 per cent support in a leadership review vote.
Boisclair bested party veteran Pauline Marois to take the leadership.
He did so even though it was known he had used cocaine as a cabinet minister in the 1990s.
The openly gay Boisclair raised questions about his judgment and maturity when he appeared in a parody of "Brokeback Mountain" featuring actors wearing the masks of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George Bush.
Many hardline sovereigntists saw him as being too soft on the sovereignty agenda. In kicking off the election campaign, Boisclair promised a "public consultation" on sovereignty and avoided the word "referendum."
While he was seen to have run a reasonably good campaign, Boisclair, a well-tailored Montrealer, didn't connect with rural and small-town francophone Quebec in the way that ADQ Leader Mario Dumont did. Dumont's party -- which believes in more "autonomy" for Quebec, but won't support a referendum -- won 41 seats, up from four in 2003, making it the official opposition.
With files from The Canadian Press
