QUEBEC CITY - The Parti Québécois continues taking on water as a fifth MNA decided Tuesday to leave the caucus while another, according to the party, came to a mutual decision with leader Pauline Marois to temporarily step down.

Rookie MNA Benoit Charette, who since 2008 has represented the Deux-Montagnes riding northwest of Montreal, tendered his resignation in a press conference Tuesday morning.

Later Tuesday, a party spokesperson said Marois and René Gauvreau decided together for the MNA from Groulx riding to leave the caucus while a fraud trial against one his former riding political attachés makes its way through the courts.

Gauvreau confirmed that version of events to CTV Montreal's Kai Nagata, vehemently denying reports that quickly emerged stating Marois had pushed him out of the caucus.

Charette served in the PQ as immigration critic but announced that he will sit as an independent.

He is the fifth member of the PQ's shadow cabinet to quit since June 6. After the high-profile resignations of sovereignist hardliners Pierre Curzi, Lisette Lapointe, and Louise Beaudoin, Jean-Martin Aussant followed suit.

Aussant, a former vice-president at Morgan Stanley, has mused that he may form another sovereignist party, separate from the PQ and Quebec Solidaire.

Charette is not in the same camp as the four who have already quit. While they were impatient with the party's approach to sovereignty, Charette leans in the opposite direction because he opposes the plan to hold another referendum if the PQ gets into power.

In his press conference, Charette reiterated that he still believes in the independence of Quebec but fears that, "a third failure in a referendum would be fatal to the independence movement."

"It's not a question of leadership," Charette said. "You just have to look at statistics. And I'm talking about the last 16 or 17 years."

Still, until recently he was considered loyal to Marois.

Charette was among 12 young MNAs who signed an open letter a week ago asking former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau to adopt a low profile and refrain from criticizing the current party leadership. Marois approved that letter, and Charette has publicly stood behind the PQ leader.

He said Tuesday of his participation in the petition that "the letter was not my personal initiative. They asked all those born after 1968 to sign. So I signed it."

"When you are part of a group it entails certain solidarity," he added. "Had been the only one not to sign it, all the attention would be focused on me and I wasn't ready to make a decision at that moment."

The Deux-Montagnes seat has been occupied by the ADQ, Liberals and Parti Quebecois in recent years.

Charette will sit as an independent and some have speculated that he could eventually end up in a party led by Francois Legault.

He said that he had met with Legault several times recently but only as friends. He credited Legault with inspiring him to get into politics.

Legault, himself a former PQ cabinet minister, has repeatedly promised an end to all talk of a referendum if he is elected.

Meanwhile, Gauvreau had already been absent from the PQ caucus for several months dealing with a personal health issue when his departure was learned Tuesday afternoon.

Gauvreau is also currently dealing with a legal issue involving former political attaché Jean Paquette, who is facing charges of theft of $10,000 from the riding association.

Gauvreau described his conversation with Marois as friendly and amical and they both agreed he would stop attending caucus meetings for the duration of the investigation. Gauvreau will sit in the National Assembly in September as an independent, but he agreed to continue supporting the PQ agenda both in legislative votes and in his riding.

He says Marois promised him that once the police investigation wraps up, he will be welcomed back to the PQ caucus.

As for his health issues, Gauvreau says it's been better of late and he anticipates being able to sit in the National Assembly when the fall session begins Sept. 20. He is, however, suffering from depression as a result of the investigation, he says.

The PQ caucus had already scheduled a meeting north of Quebec City for Wednesday. With Charette and Gauvreau leaving, the party is reduced from 52 to 46 seats in the National Assembly. The Liberals have 65 seats, there are nine independents, four for the ADQ and Quebec Solidaire has one seat.