Liberals reduced to minority in Quebec election
12 minutes ago
By Robert Melnbardis
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Quebec Premier Jean Charest lost his parliamentary seat in the Canadian province's election as voters knocked down his ruling Liberal government to a minority from a majority, CBC TV projected on Monday night.
The conservative Action Democratique (ADQ), which wants the mainly French-speaking province of 7.5 million to be more autonomous but remain part of Canada, surged in popularity under its 36-year-old leader Mario Dumont to take second spot.
It will form the official opposition in the incoming legislature, CBC's French television network said.
The separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ), which under its chief, Andre Boisclair, 40, wanted to hold a third referendum on Quebec independence if it had won the election, was in third place.
The election results made it unlikely that Quebec will hold a referendum on separation anytime soon, political analysts said.
Quebec voted against separation by about one percentage point in 1995 and by 20 points in 1980.
Charest's loss to a PQ candidate in his home district of Sherbrooke some 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Montreal, and the ADQ's second-place finish surpassed most predictions.
"We are all surprised. There really is an ADQ wave," political columnist Josee Legault told the CBC French network,
Quebec has not had a minority government since 1878.
Dumont's success could augur well for Canada's Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is looking to gather more support in Quebec with the aim of turning his own minority government into a majority.
Speculation has been mounting that Canada could head into a national election in the coming months. Harper's Conservatives need to pick up votes in Quebec and Ontario to win a majority.
With about two-thirds of the ballots counted in Quebec's vote, the Liberals had candidates elected or leading in 46 of the 125 parliamentary seats up for grabs, followed by 43 for the ADQ and 36 for the PQ.
In terms of popular support, the Liberals were at 32 percent, followed by the ADQ at 31.5 percent and the PQ at 29 percent.
About 5.5 million people were eligible to vote. Some 80 percent of Quebec's population is French-speaking.
The ADQ's surge in the final days of the month-long election campaign siphoned votes from both the Liberals and PQ. Dumont's rise helped take down Liberal cabinet ministers and dampen separatists' hopes for another vote on independence.
Dumont had supported Quebec separation in the months leading up to the 1995 referendum.
In the latest election campaign, however, he campaigned on a platform of cutting taxes and government bureaucracy.
Dumont argued that Quebec needs to focus on its economic and social challenges such as reducing its C$122 billion ($105 billion) of debt and fixing its overwhelmed public health care system.
Charest campaigned on his party's record in power since 2003, but critics said he failed to deliver on promises to cut taxes and shore up the public health care network.
Canadian markets were taking the election in stride. The Canadian dollar was down slightly at $1.1620, or 86.06 U.S. cents, on Monday afternoon from Friday's close of $1.1608, or 86.15 U.S. cents, but up sharply from its week-earlier level.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark S&P/TSX composite index closed 65 points higher at 13,302.
At dissolution of the provincial legislature on February 21, the Liberals had 72 seats, the PQ formed the official opposition with 45 seats and the ADQ had five members. Two seats were vacant and one was represented by an independent.
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