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Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée warned a packed room in his Rosemont riding not to divide the sovereignist vote, because that would pave the way for a Coalition Avenir Québec government.

“It’s no joke; if an were election held today, the CAQ would win, and it is a party that believes in privatizing health care and austerity,” he said Tuesday night at an all-candidates meeting attended by more than 300 citizens at the Gabrielle-et-Marcel-Lapalme community centre. “We can’t divide ourselves. If the CAQ wins by one riding, and that happens to be the Rosemont riding, we won’t be in a good mood here.”

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Lisée was referring to the rising popularity of sovereignist party Québec solidaire, which is threatening to take away several seats from the Parti Québécois in the coming election.

Québec solidaire candidate Vincent Marissal, a former La Presse columnist, fired back, saying voters should vote for the party they believe best represents them. “We would say don’t waste your vote,” he told the crowd. “No one here has a monopoly on progressiveness.” It was a turning of tables of sorts, as Lisée last week said François Legault was panicking by telling traditional PQ voters to vote for him. This time, it was Marissal’s turn to call Lisée scared.