Photo: Adil Boukind Archives Le Devoir Aref Salem (above center) is not closing the door on the idea of running for leadership of the party he has led on an interim basis since the departure of Denis Coderre.
Jeanne Corriveau
Posted at 8:05 p.m.
- Montreal
Ensemble Montréal is preparing for the electoral battle for Montreal mayor in 2025, but it will first need to find a leader. During a congress held on Saturday, the opposition party at city hall adopted new rules to govern the leadership race, breaking with the ways of doing things in force at the time. by Denis Coderre.
“We don’t want a coronation without there being a debate of ideas,” says the interim leader of Ensemble Montréal, Aref Salem . “It is the members who will be at the heart of the decisions. »
The constitution ratified by the members of the party will bring important changes to the organization and will impose precise procedures in the operation of training and the race for the presidency. chiefdom.
“There is a before-2021 and a post-2021,” says Aref Salem. Before, there were no well-established, clear and transparent rules. »
From now on, he explains, it is the members of the party who will have to decide on the choice of the future leader. For their part, candidates for this position will have to comply with the planned procedures and convince members that they are best placed to lead the party. “There is no longer anyone who will be able to come to Ensemble Montréal and only the elected officials will decide,” says Mr. Salem. “There are going to be debates of ideas. […] The next campaign will not be around one person. We don’t want a “savior”. »
The party also chose the new members who make up its steering committee, which will no longer have elected officials.
< p>The details of the leadership race will be clarified next fall, and the race should be launched in the following months.
Financial discipline
Aref Salem argues that the discontent against Mayor Valérie Plante is creating enthusiasm for Ensemble Montréal. ” The phone is ringing. There are people who are interested in introducing themselves. What is important for us is to choose the best person who will guide us to victory. »
The party will also have to redress its financial situation. When he left the team after his defeat in 2021, Denis Coderre left behind a party in debt. At the end of this electoral race, Ensemble Montréal's debt had reached $481,600. The party, however, managed to reduce it to $347,400 last year. He intends to pay off this debt between now and the electoral campaign and establish financial discipline in order to prevent the 2021 scenario from repeating itself.
Mr. Salem cites the Sainte-Geneviève–L’Île-Bizard mayoral election campaign last December. It was managed cautiously, but allowed party candidate Doug Hurley to win with a landslide majority, he says.
Aref Salem is not ruling out the idea of running for the leadership of the party he has led on an interim basis since Denis Coderre left. “I haven’t made a decision yet.”
Several names of potential candidates for mayor of Montreal have circulated in recent months, including those of the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, and former Liberal leader Dominique Anglade.