Recent Posts

Drama surrounding succession of Jack Layton ‘Shakespearean’ on Astini News

MONTREAL — The New Democratic Party should hold its leadership convention in Stratford, Ont., because the drama surrounding the succession of Jack Layton has been positively Shakespearean.

Consider the cast of characters: The dying leader. His wife. His advisers. His heir apparent. And the enemies plotting against the heir apparent — who may include the other main characters, including the dying leader.

The plot so far: The day of Layton's death, his widow, Olivia Chow, published a letter written by Layton with her help and that of his closest advisers and dated two days before his death.

It was his political will, and it included his recommendation that the NDP elect his successor "as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003," referring to the party's last leadership election.

At the time, it appeared that his Quebec lieutenant, Thomas Mulcair, was his natural successor. But a surprise potential rival soon emerged from within Layton's inner circle.

The day after his death, Canadian Press reported that party president Brian Topp was being encouraged by influential New Democrats to run for the leadership.

The CP story noted that, like Mulcair, Topp is a fluently bilingual native of Quebec who played a key role in the NDP's rise to official-Opposition status in the federal election last May 2.

Unlike Mulcair, who joined the party only four years ago, Topp was described as a longtime New Democrat with "deep roots" in the party, especially in Ontario and the West, and in the labour movement.

And the story suggested that where Layton had been a conciliator, Mulcair was divisive, sometimes turning his well-known combativeness toward adversaries on members of his own party.

When Topp declined to take himself out of consideration, it looked as though the story had been planted to make influential New Democrats pause before committing themselves early to Mulcair in order to ingratiate themselves with the presumed next leader.

And the story was only the beginning of a whispering campaign against Mulcair from within his party.

The week after Layton's death, an Ottawa-based newsweekly quoted an unnamed New Democrat "who was close to Mr. Layton and his top circle of advisers" saying that members of Layton's inner circle "loathe" Mulcair.

What's more, the story in the Hill Times hinted that Layton himself might have wanted to deny Mulcair the succession.

It said the suggestion in Layton's letter that the leadership election be held "early in the New Year" was "a timetable that could dampen Mr. Mulcair's hopes."

The NDP chooses its leaders by a vote of its card-carrying members. Mulcair's base is in Quebec, and even though 58 per cent of the New Democratic MPs are from this province, no more than five per cent of party members currently are.

The earlier the election, the less time Mulcair, a newcomer to the party, would have to win over existing members in the rest of the country and sign up new ones in Quebec.

Last week, Mulcair addressed the suggestion that Layton's entourage, and perhaps Layton himself, didn't want him to be leader. He spoke of his close association with Layton, and the confidence Layton had shown in him by appointing him House leader after the May 2 election.

But he said he would not decide whether to run for the leadership until after the party's federal council sets the rules for the election on Friday.

If Mulcair does run, his fate could fall into the hands of the executor of Layton's political will, his widow.

New Democrats showed great affection for Chow, and some urged her, an MP herself, to run.

She lacks the essential qualification of fluency in French, and has told CBC News she will not run.

Her influence with New Democrats could make her a kingmaker. But Chow also told CBC News that she will not endorse a candidate.

Had she chosen against Mulcair, it would have been clear to New Democrats that the heir apparent was not the choice of the dying leader.

Such an ending would have been Shakespearean, too.

Montreal Gazette

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

What's on Your Mind...