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This article was published 4/5/2016 (1599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rana Bokhari still has fight in her and is looking to St. Boniface to settle the score.

The Manitoba Liberal leader has no plans to resign her leadership and says if former NDP premier Greg Selinger leaves his seat in St. Boniface, she's ready to put her name on the ballot as the Liberal candidate.

"I want a seat," Bokhari told the Free Press Wednesday. "I can't see any reason why I wouldn't (run in St. Boniface)."

And come next year's Liberal annual general meeting, she is ready to stand up and defend her leadership.

"If there is a challenge, we fight," she said, shutting down rumours of her resignation in the near future.

Bokhari saw her goal of gaining a seat in the legislature crushed on April 19 after losing to NDP candidate Wab Kinew in Fort Rouge. As someone who admittedly always wears her heart on her sleeve, she says the defeat left her heartbroken — so heartbroken that, in the heat of the moment on election night, she was unable to give a concession speech.

It was a move most saw as baffling, and Bokhari admits it was a huge misstep.

"Rookie mistake and I acknowledge it and next time around I assure you that I will be doing that concession speech," she said. "Let's just call this what it is, I really didn't want to be bawling during my speech, I was very upset."

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rana Bokhari at Liberal headquarters Molgat Place.

As of now, she still collects a salary from the party, but that may not last forever. The party took out a sizable loan to help fund the campaign and, if Premier Brian Pallister cancels the vote tax as he has promised, Bokhari says the party will have to prioritize and she may choose to give up her salary. The party's board can also choose to revoke her salary.

Without a salary, Bokhari said she would return to practising law, but only part time.

"My priority right now is the party and the salary isn't the issue," she said. "I can't imagine that I would not be here full time."

Her focus is on sustaining the party's growth, which on April 19 saw the provincial Liberals grow from one seat to three at the legislature and almost double their vote count from the 2011 election.

However, the results were miles behind what early election polls indicated. Many initial polls showed the Liberals neck and neck with the NDP, with some even predicting they could become the official Opposition.

Things began to fall apart when the party failed to run a full slate after five candidates had their nomination papers rejected. There were also controversies surrounding several candidates, includes one who called for the closing of two hospitals. Another had to be dropped from the ballot after a domestic assault charge was revealed.

Then there was Bokhari's announcement of a $20 million Crown-run grocery store in the downtown, which was criticized by a private-sector grocery store as unfair competition. And there were public battles with the media surrounding accusations of unfair coverage.

Bokhari admits they needed a better candidate vetting process and, if she could do it over again, she would have nominated candidates months in advance as opposed to the waning days before nominations closed. She also thinks Manitobans needed more time to get to know her personality and her quirks.

Resources were also an issue for the party, battling the well-established NDP and Progressive Conservative donation and volunteer machines.

"Dollars, there has to be a lot more money in place, there has to be. Just not having the resources was so challenging," Bokhari said. "I learned a lot, in hindsight there is many things I'd do different."

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca