Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy not seeking re-election in 2026

Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy in Gatineau on Tuesday, Sept. 3 , 2024. Rizqy will leave political life at the end of her current mandate. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Marwah Rizqy, the Quebec Liberal Party's MNA for Saint-Laurent, will not be seeking re-election in the next provincial election.

She cited family reasons for her decision, saying Tuesday morning she wants to "live fully (her) role as a mother."

In a message published on social media, Rizqy confided that playing her role as MNA while being the mother of two young boys was becoming increasingly difficult, especially in a context where her husband, Liberal MNA Gregory Kelley, is elected to the National Assembly.

"I want to live my role as a mother to the fullest. I want to be able to be in the same city as my young children and to be able to tuck them in at night", she said, adding that her decision is "final and without question."

Rizqy said she would complete her current mandate by giving 100 per cent, but acknowledges that leaving Montreal to sit in Quebec City, leaving her children without parents during the week, has become "too great a sacrifice."

Rizqy was elected to the National Assembly in 2018 and won a second term in 2022.

Many observers saw her running in the Liberal Party leadership race to elect a new leader next summer, but she had ruled out the possibility for similar family reasons.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 1, 2024.