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OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is determined to set off elections in the coming days or weeks, separatist Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said on Friday, after meeting with Harper.
"The prime minister absolutely wants an election," Duceppe told reporters as he left the prime minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive.
"Having met with the prime minister, it is my belief that even if Mr. Harper could find common ground with opposition parties, he really wants there to be an election. And that's my only conclusion after meeting with him," he said.
Harper himself has given strong indications that he may soon call elections to stir up Parliament, pointing to a "deadlock between us and the opposition on many files."
Harper summoned opposition leaders for talks this week, he said, to gauge whether any common ground on each's legislative priorities could be hammered out in a bid to avoid going to the polls.
His meeting with Duceppe was to be followed on Saturday by a tete-a-tete with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton. Stephane Dion, leader of the main opposition Liberals, was said to be unavailable before September 9 for talks.
"In the past it was proved that depending on the issues, a party or another could be in agreement with the government," and prop up Harper's minority Conservative government, Duceppe commented.
Now, "instead of making efforts to try of finding solutions in the best interests of the population, he wants an election in the best interests of his party," he opined.
"I think his plan is made. He wants an election, period."
- AFP /ls
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