Martine Ouellet loses Bloc Qubcois confidence vote with 32% support

BlocQubcoisleader Martine Ouelletreceived 32 per cent of theparty members' support during the confidence vote held Friday and Saturday.

The 15,000 party members were invited to weigh in by telephone or on the internet over the two-day period that ended Saturday at midnight.

Ouellet had said she believedgetting the support of 50 per cent plus one would give her the legitimacy to stay on as head of the party.

The Bloc'smembers also voted 65per cent in favour ofwhether the party should focus on promoting Quebec independence on a daily basis.

The party has been in disarray since late February when seven of its 10 MPs quit over Ouellet's leadership style.

The Bloc's youth wing and one of the three remaining MPs also withdrew their support of Ouellet, who has been criticized for being uncompromising and for focusing too sharply on Quebec independence instead of defending the province's interests on the federal scene.

Uncertain future

Ouelletdid not speak after the vote's results, but will hold a news conference Monday at 10:30 a.m. She is expected to resign as the party's leader.

Former party leader Gilles Duceppetold Radio-Canada before the vote that he hoped members would vote "No."

"It's important for the Bloc Qubcois's future," Duceppe said. "It's going nowhere with Madame Ouellet. If she stays, it will be end of the [Bloc.]"

Duceppe said he hopes the MPs who resigned will return.

Gilbert Paquette, a former Parti Qubcoisgovernment minister who Ouelletmade her special counsellor in April, said the two votes contradicted each other.

Paquettesaid Ouelletis a leader who strongly focused on independence, which members voted in favour of, while a majority also votedagainst her leadership.

"So, the Bloc will have to decide what its orientation is in the coming weeks," he said.

Paquettesaid he believes members were swayed by the seven MPs' decision to leave and that it had made the party appear in disarray.

"The Bloc was doing pretty well," Paquette said, pointing to a 30 per cent support rate in Quebec before the MPsleft.

"If a vote of confidence would have been taken before these [resignations], I think that anybody would agree that the leader would have had 80-90 per cent."