The PQ's Shakespearean leadership race

The stage is being set for a confrontation between two star-crossed candidates in the race to lead the Parti Qubcois into the next election.

One-time allies and long-time friends, MNAs VeroniqueHivon and Alexandre Cloutier have quickly emerged as the two leading contenders to replace Pierre Karl Pladeau.

"We have a real friendship, which gives us a scenario that could be a bit Shakespearean,"Cloutier, a former cabinet minister, said last week.

Et tu, Brute?

It was unclear what playCloutierwas referring to.Perhaps he was sensing an "et tu, Brute?"moment taking shape.

Hivon, after all, had supportedCloutierduring the last leadership race, when theLac-Saint-JeanMNA finished a distant second to Pladeau.

She will formally launch her leadership campaign on Monday, beatingCloutierout of the starting gate. He is expected to follow suit in the days to come.

• Vronique Hivon to enter PQ leadership race on Monday

But Romeo and Juliet might equally come to mind. To many observers they represent the party's passionate youth. Of course, PQ supporters would hope for a different end to their drama.

Yet support for sovereignty is on the wane among young Quebecers; the prospect of two relatively young politicians duelling over the leadership adds a sense of dynamism to the party.

Do as adversaries do in law

It could be that Cloutierwas thinking of that line from The Taming of the Shrew:

And do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.

Internal PQ politics arenotoriously cut-throat,so a race without rifts holds particular appeal.

Hivon is a lawyer by training she has a law degree from McGilland amaster's in social policy from the London School of Economics but has worked in politics and government for most of her professional life.

Her political reputation is based on her involvement in two projects.

Hivonwas the central figure behind Quebec's right-to-die legislation. As an opposition MNA, she introduced the motion that led to the creation of all-party dying with dignity committee, which she then co-chaired.

When the PQ took power in 2012, she co-authoredBill 52 asminister of social services. The bill was passed by the succeeding Liberal government, in a rare display of bipartisanship.

• Quebec passes landmark end-of-life-care bill

Her skills as a bridge-builder saw her tasked by Pladeau to reach out to other sovereigntistgroups in the province, in the hopes of creating a coalition to better challenge the Liberals.

Though that project has failed to take root, a former interim leader and party president ofOptionnationale a small provincial party that broke away from the PQhas said she'll rejoin the party if Hivon decides to run.

Cloutiertoo has a background in law. In fact, he wassomething of a legalwunderkind. He clerked at the Supreme Court and won a prestigious scholarship to undertakea master's in public international law at Cambridge.

He stood out in the last leadership race by saying he would only hold a referendum if enough Quebecers signed a petition asking for one.

• Pierre Karl Pladeau elected leader of Parti Qubcois

He is also known to have been inspired by the Scottish National Party, and visited with party officials there in 2014. The SNP first built credibility as a governing party before choosing to hold a referendum on independence.

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him

That Hivon and Cloutier have, in these early days, emerged as the front-runners is indicativeof the party's lukewarm feelingsaboutPladeau's leadership.

• ANALYSIS:The PQ's brush with Pierre Karl Pladeau cost the party dearly

Though the party overwhelmingly backed his campaign, Hivon and Cloutier were in the minority who stood fast against the tide.

And the one potential candidate who would have represented continuity withPladeau's regime House Leader Bernard Drainville has opted not to run.

Of course there may be other poor players who will seek to strut and fret their hour upon the stage: Martine Ouellet sent out a suggestive tweet on Sunday; former finance minister Nicolas Marceau is said to be counting his supporters; and Jean-Franois Lise is known to have Lady Macbeth-sized ambitions.

But with theattention drawn thus far byHivonandCloutier, they risk launching campaigns full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing in the end.