The full results aren’t in, but it appears Quebec Liberal leader Jean Charest has lost his seat.
He can resign, he can have another member give up their seat, he is still the Premier, Â what is news is that this is the first time since the 19th century (1878)Â Quebec will have a minority government.
When he called the election on Feb. 21, Charest’s Liberals had 72 seats, the PQ had 45 and the ADQ had five. There was one Independent and two vacancies.
The campaign lasted 33 days, with polls towards the end showing a tight race. Despite heavy rains in parts of Quebec on Monday, voter turnout was very solid.
The Liberals have a minority government, the ADQ has surpassed the PQ. A majority government is 63 seats. There are 125 seats up for grabs.
The ADQ had five seats going into this election, (Action democratique du Quebec) the Parti Quebecois 45, and the Liberals 72.Â
Currently (as I post this) the Liberals have 47 seats, the ADQ 41 and the PQ 37. Greens and independents took 8% of the popular vote.
That will bounce around as the rest of the results come in.
Update: The chief electoral officer called Jean Charest to let him know he has retained his seat in Sherbrooke.Â
Montreal Gazette
CBC – Quebec Votes 2007
This is going to be an interesting few months, as we see an Liberal-ADQ coalition of some sort, and whether Charest stays on as premier. You might also see a few centrist Francophone Liberals become ADQ in the future, since the Liberals seem to be isolated into Anglophone and immigrant (IIRC, they use the term Allophone) ridings.
I’ve seen somebody on CBC (we get the Montreal CBC channel on cable) suggest that Charest might return to the Conservative fold and run as a Tory in the next federal election.
Better to call it the Quiet Counter-Revolution.
Oui РRevolution tr̬s tranquille.
71.3 percent turnout, low for Quebec.