The provincial Liberal party is meeting in St. Alexis des Monts to prepare for the fall session in the National Assembly, and if there's one thing that distinguishes the governing party from its opponents, it's cohesion.

Premier Jean Charest was greeted by a lengthy standing ovation from Liberal MNAs at the beginning of Thursday's caucus meeting, in distinct contrast to what has happened in almost every meeting held by the Parti Quebecois this summer.

While this week's resignation of Deputy Premier Nathalie Normandeau has left the Liberals with a one-seat majority in the National Assembly, and surveys indicate Charest is the least-liked premier in the country, his approval numbers are higher now than they were in the spring.

Finance Minster Raymond Bachand is not surprised.

"We've shown that we know how to charter the course in a difficult world environment," said Bachard. "We'll stay agile. We're not idealogues. We're pragmatic."

The economy and the Plan Nord to develop Quebec's mineral resources are one of the top items being discussed at the party meeting.

Despite the disarray of the main political opposition, with 6 MNAs leaving the PQ this summer and seemingly neverending battles among separatist and sovereigntists groups, analysts do not expect Charest to call an election this fall.

"His party satisfaction level is very low," said Don Macpherson. "Right now in terms of public opinion, support is much stronger for [Francois] Legault than it is for the Parti Quebecois."

"[Charest] needs an even split."

Francois Legault and his Coalition for the future of Quebec (CAQ) are the most popular political group in Quebec right now, even though they do not officially form a political party.

"As we've seen from recent history in Quebec you don't really need a party to win an election," said Macpherson. "In 2007 the ADQ came within a few thousand votes of forming a minority government even though that was essentially a one-man band behind Mario Dumont."

He feels that with the loss of ministers like Philippe Couillard, Monique-Jerome Forget, and most recently Normandeau, Charest needs fresh, strong faces within his ranks.

The fall session of the National Assembly begins on September 20, 2011.