Parti Quebecois returns to power, promising a third referendum on Quebec’s independence from Canada.
Published On ۶ Oct ۲۰۲۶
The secessionist Parti Quebecois has won the most seats in Quebec’s election and will form the next government in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province, according to media reports.
The result on Monday revives the question of whether the province should leave Canada, testing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message of national unity.
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Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the party’s leader, is set to become premier.
During the campaign, he promised a third referendum on leaving Canada during his first term, although he said he would wait until US President Donald Trump leaves office in January ۲۰۲۹.
It was not yet clear whether the party had reached the ۶۴ seats needed for a majority in the ۱۲۷-seat National Assembly.
If it falls short, it would lead a minority government and need support from opposition lawmakers to pass major legislation and survive confidence votes.
The Parti Quebecois, or PQ, last governed the province from ۲۰۱۲ to ۲۰۱۴.
Monday’s victory marks a sharp recovery for the PQ, which won just three seats in the ۲۰۲۲ provincial election.
Its return also ends eight years in power for the Coalition Avenir Quebec, or CAQ, a centre-right Quebec nationalist party that does not support independence.
Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, told The Associated Press news agency that the victory reflects Quebec’s multiparty system, where support is divided among several parties, rather than a surge in secessionist sentiment.
Support for independence remains at about ۳۰ percent, low by historical standards, he said.
Still, Beland said a secessionist government in Quebec represents a new national-unity challenge for Carney, particularly with another independence-related vote approaching in Alberta.
“Seeing that a pro-independence party won in Quebec barely two weeks before an independence-related referendum takes place in Alberta might suggest to the Trump administration that national unity remains a major issue in Canada despite the popularity of Mark Carney,” Beland said.
Quebec held two previous referendums on independence, in ۱۹۸۰ and ۱۹۹۵, and voters rejected secession both times.
The second vote was decided by a narrow margin, but there has been no further referendum in the three decades since.
