QUEBEC - Quebec's newest, perhaps most popular political party suffered an early defeat Tuesday as it was denied official status in the legislature.
The national assembly refused to grant an official party designation to the Coalition for Quebec's Future, which sits at or near the top of the polls.
The decision will deprive the new party of research funds, along with an office stipend for members with senior functions.
The party's leader, Francois Legault, said he was disappointed in the decision. He cited it as evidence that Quebec politics needs to change.
"What we saw today was two old parties team up to refuse to recognize (us)," Legault told reporters.
"This after almost a year in which both (PQ Leader) Pauline Marois and (Liberal Premier) Jean Charest insisted we had to start a party so we could play on the 'same rink' as them. And on the moment we could have been on that rink, they refused to let us get on the ice."
The Coalition only has nine members — three fewer than it takes to be recognized as a party.
But members were hoping it might receive the same special treatment awarded to the now-defunct Action democratique du Quebec, which had even fewer members but was granted such status after the last election.
That 2008 decision gave the ADQ a $400,000 research budget and another $300,000 in other benefits. Tuesday's verdict means the Coalition loses that; the party will also learn over the next few days whether it can still afford to pay any of the seven people who worked on the ADQ's research staff, or whether they will need to be laid off. The Coalition will also see limited facetime at parliamentary committees.
However, the party gets to keep the standard research budget of $22,700 given to each individual MNA.
The development Tuesday occurred as the legislature resumed sitting after its winter break. The creation of the Coalition has changed the province's political landscape in the runup to a possible election this year.
The new Coalition caucus comprises six former ADQ members and three ex-Parti Quebecois members. The party is led by a one-time PQ heavyweight, Legault, and is also hoping to attract some ex-Liberals to its ranks.
There is speculation Charest may be tempted to hit the hustings early to take advantage of an opposition that is somewhat stagnant in the polls.
Even Legault's Coalition, which had a commanding lead until recently, has slumped somewhat in the latest polls. Recent surveys pointed to a three-way race with the PQ and Charest's Liberals.
One possible deterrent to Charest calling an early vote is that polls suggest he might get only a minority government similar to the one Quebecers gave him in 2007, or even lose because he lacks support among francophone voters who decide most ridings.
While not optimal, those poll results have been better lately for Charest than they had been for most of the last two years.
The Liberals have a slight majority in the 125-seat legislature and were last elected in December 2008. That means Charest could wait until the end of 2013 to call the next vote. The Liberals have been in power since 2003.
On the legislative front, the government is expected to push through various bills related to Charest's ambitious but controversial plan to develop northern Quebec.
