Members of the Parti Québécois have chosen veteran sovereigntist François Gendron as their interim leader to replace André Boisclair, who resigned suddenly on Tuesday.

Gendron, 62, is the longest serving member of Quebec's national assembly. He was first elected to office when the PQ marched to victory in the historic 1976 election.

François Gendron, shown in a November photo, will be interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of André Boisclair.
(Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

The seasoned politician said he wants to focus on guiding the PQ caucus through its parliamentary responsibilities in the new legislative session.

"I'm offering my experience, I'm offering my integrity, I'm offering the party a temporary leg up," Gendron told reporters Wednesday night.

Gendron assumes the interim leadership as the troubled PQ faces the daunting task of picking its third leader in three years.

Boisclair stunned his caucus on Tuesday when he announced his immediate resignation, after weeks of mounting pressure from sovereigntists who were disappointed by the last election results, and fed up with his perceived lack of judgement.

Whoever takes Boisclair's place in the long term will have to deal with a party deeply divided over whether to moderate its position on sovereignty, insiders say.

"We have important changes to make in the program of the Parti Québécois," Legault told CBC News. "We have to modernize the PQ."

Some party members are warning against making the same mistake they say tripped up Quebec's sovereignty movement when it chose Boisclair to replace Bernard Landry in 2005.
 
"The No. 1 article of the Parti Québécois is to become a country," said Denis Lazure, a former PQ cabinet minister first elected under René Lévesque in 1976. "That's a complicated program, so you need someone who has a good deal of political maturity."

The list of possible contenders is long, with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe widely considered to be a front-runner, but he says the dust has to settle before talking about about a new leadership race.

That didn't stop some Bloc MPs from touting their leader and his authoritarian style as the best thing for the PQ.

"The Parti Québécois needs a little bit of a kick in the butt," said Bloc caucus chair Louis Plamondon on Wednesday. "It needs discipline, and he's the man to impose it."

Marois considering return to politics

Former PQ cabinet minister and past leadership hopeful Pauline Marois is also a popular prospect. Marois told CBC's French language service she wasn't closing the door on an eventual return to politics, but said it's too early to gauge.

What the PQ needs right now is to do some inner searching to figure out where it's going, Marois said.

Newly-minted politician and popular Quebec actor Pierre Curzi is also being talked about as a possible leadership hopeful — as is former premier Bernard Landry, who resigned in 2005.

On Tuesday, Duceppe told reporters he'd consider three factors before throwing his hat in the ring: his desire for the job, his ability to do it and timing.

As sovereigntists speculate about their future leader, Boisclair's opponents paid homage to their rival, who was absent at the national assembly on Tuesday following his surprise resignation.

Addressing members of the legislature Tuesday afternoon, Quebec Premier Jean Charest called Boisclair's move a "difficult decision."

"It says how tough politics is — sometimes cruel, often unfair. And leaders of political parties have to accept that unfairness against themselves, as they try to correct injustices for others."