The Parti Québécois (PQ) suspects the Conservative Social gathering of Quebec (PCQ) of getting damaged the foundations in the course of the by-election held within the using of Arthabaska final summer season.
In a press scrum in Quebec Metropolis on Friday, the chief of the PQ, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, addressed the data first shared with Le Journal de Québec.
He acknowledged that he suspected Conservative chief and candidate in Arthabaska, Éric Duhaime, of getting considerably underestimated his election bills.
In response to him, Duhaime benefited from a reduction on the books he distributed freed from cost to voters, after which on the lodging he rented in the course of the marketing campaign.
Nevertheless, the electoral regulation stipulates that nobody might “declare or obtain a worth totally different from the present worth” for items or providers offered to a candidate.
St-Pierre Plamondon confirmed that his get together had filed a grievance with Elections Quebec.
“The rule is that every get together campaigns with the identical finances. If there’s a get together that doesn’t declare every little thing, and that spends greater than what’s allowed, (…) our electoral system won’t work,” he mentioned.
For his half, Duhaime maintains he has nothing to reproach himself for. He accused St-Pierre Plamondon in a press scrum of waging a “smear marketing campaign.”
“He desires to go down into the sewers after which do politics of this nature? I discover that terribly disappointing of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon,” he mentioned.
“This isn’t befitting the workplace of a man who aspires to be prime minister,” he added.
Duhaime defends himself by stating that he sought the recommendation of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) earlier than buying books, on this case his personal biography “In opposition to all odds”.
“We did it following the DGE requirements,” he assures.
Then, he explains that he didn’t pay the complete worth of a lease displayed on-line, as a result of “we didn’t lease the whole constructing (…) and the one who rented it even continued to dwell within the lodging.”
“So, the fee wasn’t the identical. That explains the distinction in prices.”
Allow us to recall that on August 11, it was the PQ candidate Alex Boissonneault who received the by-election in Arthabaska after a tricky marketing campaign in opposition to his closest opponent Éric Duhaime.
He had spared no effort, conducting an energetic marketing campaign on the bottom, hoping to wrest the using from the Coalition Avenir Québec and enter the Nationwide Meeting.
“If the details are confirmed, then sure, it’s problematic, however we’ll wait and see what the investigation says,” Liberal chief Charles Milliard mentioned Friday.
Québec solidaire’s parliamentary chief, Ruba Ghazal, additionally acknowledged that she had taken observe of the PQ’s grievance in opposition to the PCQ.
“If that is true, I discover it extraordinarily, extraordinarily worrying. Duhaime should show the utmost transparency. The general public’s belief within the political class is at stake,” she warned.
Whereas in Drummondville, Premier Christine Fréchette remained cautious: “I’ll let the Chief Electoral Officer assess the state of affairs. I’ve no additional feedback.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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