LA MALBAIE, Que. - Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois will seek election in a riding northeast of Quebec City, eager to return to the Quebec legislature after taking the PQ leadership.
Marois said in La Malbaie on Monday she wants to succeed the PQ's Rosaire Bertrand, who is stepping aside in Charlevoix riding to give his leader the opportunity to get back into the national assembly.
No date has been set for the byelection but a snap call by Premier Jean Charest could give Marois the chance to be back in the legislature when it reconvenes in October.
"I hope there will be a byelection in Charlevoix as soon as possible,'' Marois told a news conference. "I want to be with my colleagues in the national assembly this fall.''
Charest has six months to call the byelection.
Bertrand has held the seat since 1994. He offered the seat to Marois last June when she was acclaimed as leader of the party.
"I did it without hesitation,'' he said. "My decision has nothing to do with my age or my health.''
Marois praised Bertrand as "an exceptional party member, generous, passionate.''
Charest said Monday that the Liberals would not field a candidate against Marois although it was not immediately clear if the Action democratique du Quebec will run someone against Marois.
Neither party ran candidates against then-PQ leader Andre Boisclair when he ran in a byelection in 2006.
Marois, 58, is trying to get back into the legislature quicker than Boisclair.
Although he became leader in November 2005, Boisclair waited until August 2006 before seeking election to get back into the legislature, saying he needed time to reorganize the PQ. He was re-elected in this year's provincial election.
Marois became leader in June after Boisclair quit in the wake of an election defeat that relegated the PQ to third place in the legislature.
Marois is originally from the Quebec City region and has a secondary residence in Charlevoix.
Marois first sat in the legislature in 1981 when she was elected in La Peltrie riding near Montreal. She was defeated in 1985 but was re-elected in 1989 in the riding of Taillon.
She held a number of high-profile cabinet posts including finance, health, education and deputy premier.
Marois was acclaimed leader of the PQ on her third try after having been defeated in 1985 and 2005.
She is married to Claude Blanchet, former head of the provincial government's investment arm, and has four grown children.
