Véronique Hivon quits Parti Québécois leadership race for health reasons

Véronique Hivon is ending her bid to become the next leader of the Parti Québécois due to health reasons, a campaign spokeswoman said Friday. 

Hivon is dealing with labyrinthitis, which is an inflammation of the inner ear that can cause vertigo, Pascale Sévigny said in a statement.

• Véronique Hivon's star rising for Parti Québécois top job

She had been ordered by a doctor to rest for four weeks and so decided to drop out of the race.

Hivon was considered one of the frontrunners for the job.

Alexandre Cloutier, Jean-François Lisée, Martine Ouellet and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are the candidates still in the running.

Hivon said she wants to stay neutral and won't be endorsing any of her former rivals.

• Your handy guide to the PQ leadership race

Hivon is a 'key player'

Cloutier, who is a friend of Hivon's, said he knew how badly she wanted to win the top job.

"Véronique is a key player, a star player of the Parti Québecois, so all I want now is for her to come back healthy," he said in an interview with Radio-Canada.

Ouellet said for Hivon, doing politics differently is more than a catchphrase.

"The contributions she made will live on. We need Véronique for Quebec, for independence, and the ideas she had will be developed," she said.

​Lisée sent Hivon a tweet Friday afternoon acknowledging how hard it must be for her to drop out given what she invested in the race.

The PQ will select its new leader Oct. 7.