After suffering the most stinging defeat in its history, the Parti Québécois (PQ) will soon undertake a leadership race which will see candidate and controlling Quebecor shareholder Pierre Karl Peladeau take on his first major political test since his election last spring.

Pauline Marois forced the leadership vote by vacating the leadership after the election of 7 April, a vote which saw the PQ relegated to opposition after a mere 18 months running a minority government.

The result was seen as a disaster for the PQ, which only attracted 25.4 percent of the popular vote, good for only 30 seats in the 125-seat National Assembly. The result was even worse than the PQ’s 2007 result under former PQ leader André Boisclair, who attracted 28.4 percent of the vote.

In 2007, however, the PQ was forced into the role of second opposition party. This time they maintained a lead over Francois Legault’s CAQ, which won 22 seats.

The PQ electoral campaign was set on a different course last spring after Peladeau made an impassioned speech to announce that he would be running for the St. Jerome seat. His famous fist-pump rally-cry led the Liberals to attack the PQ on questions concerning a possible referendum, leading Marois to finish the campaign on the defensive discussing Quebec’s possible future borders, subjects which had been avoided in the past.

Six leadership candidates have filed in the race to succeed Marois, in a race that will officially kick off in early February and be decided in mid-May.

Peladeau, who announced his candidacy relatively late, holds a lead in the polls and is distantly followed by Alexandre Cloutier and Bernard Drainville. It should be noted, however, that many polls surveyed the Quebec general public. Only PQ party members are allowed to vote for the leadership.

One poll taken in mid-November even had Quebecers preferring Peladeau to Premier Couillard.

Peladeau has thus far focused his statements at large-scale questions of economics but will soon be grilled on tougher questions, forcing him to define the nuts and bolts of his platform.

Peladeau already retracted his statements casting doubt on the role of the Bloc Quebecois and its three MPs in Ottawa and has faced some tough questions concerning conflict-of-interests related to his majority ownership of the Quebecor media giant, notably from competitor Jean-François Lisée.

The Liberals are also asking questions about the possible conflict of interest, as government House leader Jean-Marc Fournier, has demanded Parliamentary Committee to examine the question as well.

Peladeau has promised to put his Quebecor shares in a blind trust if elected leader, a requirement reserved only to cabinet members. He claims, however that his rights would be violated if the laws were changed to force him to choose between politics and the family business.

Unlike Lisee, Drainville has said that he will not attack his opponents, which has resulted in him being polled as the second choice for Peladeau supporters and third in the leadership race behind Peladeau and Alexandre Cloutier.

Drainville has promised to return with what he describes as a consensus approach to the failed Charter of Values, an issue which is likely to force the other leadership candidates to take a stand on the question.

A few days ago leadership candidate Martine Ouellet proposed the creation of a regional network television network, which could be seen as an arrow aimed at Peladeau’s Quebecor TVA network.

Ouellet also proposes to tighten Quebec's anti-scab laws, which is a sensitive issue for Peladeau who has locked employees out in Quebecor subsidiaries in the past.

The contrast between Peladeau and his opponents was further exposed when three three called a press conference to shed light on their proposals, while Peladeau has chosen to use social media to get his messages across.