The PQ has offered to help Liberal leader Philippe Couillard enter the National Assembly by not presenting a rival candidate in the upcoming Viau byelection.
It is Quebec politcial tradition for the major parties not to oppose leaders running in their own riding, however Couillard has said repeatedly that he will not be running in the Viau riding.
The seat was recently vacated by MNA Emmanuel Dubourg, who quit provincial politics to run for the federal Liberal nomination in Denis Coderre’s former riding.
Couillard has said that he will choose a seat sometime during the month of August but also mentioned that he’d prefer to run for a seat in the Saguenay area where he lives.
The Viau byelection is expected to take place on September 30.
Other parties, including the CAQ, have not indicated whether they would run a candidate against Couillard.
The Viau riding is a safe Liberal seat, having been won exclusively by the Liberal party since 1976. In the last election the Haitian-born Dubourg won by around 6,000 votes --or more votes than the PQ candidate actually received.
