Election a federalist-sovereignist battle: Duceppe

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Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe appears to be escalating his party's message amid a dramatic drop in poll numbers, saying the election is not a "left-right" battle, but a "fight between the federalists and the sovereignists."

Duceppe made the statement in aTwitter post on Saturday.

The Bloc is facing stiff competition on the political left as it heads into the final stretch of the election campaign. Recent polls have suggested the NDP is building momentum, particularly in Quebec.

Christian Bourque of Leger Marketing said the NDP rise comes almost exclusively at the Bloc’s expense.

“Quebecers feel fairly comfortable with the centre-left platform of the NDP, it’s a safe place to go ideologically,” Bourque said.

Duceppe has been pitching the Bloc as the best way to block a Conservative majority. But Bourque said Duceppe needs to find a way to differentiate himself from the New Democrats.

“The only way he can do that is national unity,” Bourque said.

However, some experts doubt that the apparent increase in NDP support will hold, or translate into many more seats.

“This is, for me, at this point a vote of sympathy to the NDP — but we will see if they will polarize at the end of the campaign,” said Guy Lachapelle, a former Parti Québécois candidate who now teaches political science at Concordia University.

Heading into the election, New Democrats held just one seat in Quebec — Thomas Mulcair’s in the Outremont riding. The Bloc held 47 of the 75 seats in the province.

NDP Leader Jack Layton will hold a rally Saturday in Montreal, part of an effort to build momentum in Quebec.

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