Gilles Duceppe warns of democratic deficit if Bloc disappears

Former Bloc Qubcois leader Gilles Duceppe says instability in theparty risks leaving Quebecers who favour sovereignty without an option at the federal level.

Duceppe was referring to in-fighting sparked by new leader Mario Beaulieu and the resignation last week of Bloc MP Jean-Francois Fortin.

Fortins decision sparked heated words from Beaulieu, who accused the MP for Haute-Gaspsie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapdia of disloyalty and torpedoing the cause of independence.

Duceppewas also critical of Beaulieu'scondemnation of what he called the "wait-and-see" tactics employed by the sovereignty movement's leadership over the last 20 years.

I think it needs to be corrected because it was not fair, he told CBC News.

As to Fortins departure, Duceppe described it as unfortunate.

I told Mr. Fortin that I would have preferred if he stayed within the Bloc and have that debate within the Bloc, he said.

At the time of his resignation, however, Fortin said working for sovereignty from within the Bloc was no longer possible.

"The Bloc Qubcois in which I believed, which we believed, no longer exists," he said in a statement.

He said the catalyst for his decision was Beaulieus divisive and radical approach to leadership.

Duceppe, however, said the Bloc is an essential voice in Parliament.

All sovereigntists in Quebec wont have another choice at the federal level [without the Bloc Quebecois]. Well have to vote for a federal party that says things sovereigntists dont believe in and defends interests that are not the interests that sovereigntists want a party to defend in Ottawa, he said.

If the Bloc disappears, Duceppe warned that democracy in Canada would be weakened as a result.

If you dont have any choice for sovereigntists in Ottawa, then that means a lack of democracy, he said.