Quebec separatists in disarray ahead of election

OTTAWA, Feb 1 (Reuters) The separatist party which wants independence for Canada's French-speaking province of Quebec is in some disarray ahead of provincial elections, with leader Andre Boisclair under increasing fire as his movement slumps.

The opposition Parti Quebecois (PQ) says that if it wins the election, widely expected this spring, it will quickly hold another referendum on independence. Similar province-wide votes failed in 1980 and 1995.

Boisclair was elected leader in November 2005 and at the start of last year, the PQ enjoyed a 16 point lead over the governing Liberals.

But he has stumbled repeatedly since then, upsetting influential party members and alienating the electorate.

Separate polls by CROP and Leger Marketing on Tuesday put the governing Liberals of Jean Charest ahead for the first time since 2004.

Although many media outlets in Quebec referred to the polls as a disaster, Boisclair said yesterday that he had no intention of quitting.

''My responsibility is to look to the future, not to stick both my feet in concrete and allow myself to be overwhelmed by newspaper headlines,'' he told a Montreal radio station.

''I will adapt, I'm capable of changing. I'm intelligent, I see the criticism, I'm listening, I'm also capable of learning ... I'm in a hurry to go into an election campaign.'' Most observers expect the Liberal government to call an election at the end of March, with the vote taking place in late April or early May.

Some PQ members are so unhappy with Boisclair that there is talk of bringing back veteran Bernard Landry, who quit as leader in June 2003 amid pressure from party hardliners who were unhappy he would not commit quickly to a referendum.

Landry himself attacked Boisclair on Tuesday, saying his accident-prone style had helped cause the collapse of the PQ.

Boisclair recently antagonized Quebec's trade unions -- traditionally a strong PQ backer -- by saying he would seek to loosen ties.

Some in the party were unhappy when he took part last year in a television parody of the gay cowboy movie ''Brokeback Mountain'' which mocked Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President George W Bush.

Boisclair, who is openly gay and admitted to using cocaine when a member of the previous PQ government, has stressed the need for a referendum rather than detail his other policies.

''I don't know where he stands on any issue,'' Leger's Christian Bourque told Reuters, saying Boisclair had some big challenges to overcome.

''If you're a voter and perceive he's having internal issues within his caucus, then you question his legitimacy and credibility as a leader,'' he said.

The Leger poll found only 37 per cent of French-speakers would vote for the PQ. If the party is to win the election that figure has to be 50 per cent, Bourque said.

Pollsters generally agree that the demographics of Quebec mean the Liberals need to be five or six percentage points ahead of the PQ to be assured victory.

Claude Gauthier of CROP said the problem for the PQ was that other parties, such as the right-leaning Action Democratique du Quebec and the Greens, could siphon off some of the party's support.

''The opposition vote is not channeled toward the PQ and if this (trend) continues it will allow the Liberals to win despite everything else,'' he told Reuters.

''In general, people don't want referendums. The only thing people know about Boisclair is if he were elected it would be to have a new referendum ... but people want to elect him for other reasons,'' he said.

Recent polls show that 45 percent of Quebecers would favor splitting from Canada with 55 percent against the idea.

Reuters SBA VP0642