| Alberta Progressive Conservative Leadership Election, 2006 |
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The Alberta Progressive Conservatives, a political party in Alberta , Canada , will hold a '''leadership election''' to choose a successor to Premier Ralph Klein in September '''2006''' when Klein formally submits a letter of resignation to the Alberta Progressive Conservatives party executive. The date for the Leadership Election will then be set. Klein has indicated he expects the vote to be held in October or November 2006 and that he will leave office by the end of the year. {Link without Title} Klein has moved up his resignation plans by at least a year as a result of a leadership review on March 31 2006 in which only 55.4% of party delegates endorsed Klein's continued leadership of the party. On March 14 2006 , Klein announced his plan to tender his resignation on October 31 2007 , but remain as Premier for several months until a leadership election in early 2008. Although Klein only needed 50% plus one support to stay on as leader, 55.4% was less than the "substantial majority" Klein had previously said was necessary for him to stay on. TIMING Implications for Alberta Cabinet ministers Shortly after announcing his timetable with regards to stepping down, the Premier instructed all current members of the Alberta Cabinet to resign and move to the Backbench by June 1 , 2006 if they wanted to run for the leadership. Premier Klein's request is not unusual or unprecedented on his part - former Alberta Treasurer Stockwell Day was required to resign as Treasurer upon declaring his candidacy for leadership of the Canadian Alliance in 2000. However, the lengthy notice Klein has demanded has proven controversial - after announcing his own resignation Klein's predecessor Don Getty also required cabinet ministers who wanted the leadership to resign, but Getty only requested their resignations a few months prior to the vote. March 2006 leadership vote On March 31 , 2006 , Premier Klein faced a mandatory leadership review when party delegates voted on the question of whether he should continue as leader of the party and, by extension, as premier. Although Klein was not widely expected to lose this vote, he had said he would resign as leader quickly if he did not get an overwhelming majority. Klein had not publicly divulged what this threshold would be but most political observers pegged it at 75%, far more than the 55.4% the premier actually received. In previous years, Klein had scored as high as 97% in support of his leadership. There was known to be pressure from within the party to force Klein out sooner than planned. On March 23 , 2006 , Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Lyle Oberg was suspended from the party's legislative caucus for six months and dismissed from the Cabinet after he told constituents in Brooks that he would not urge delegates at the March 31 leadership review to support Klein. Oberg had been considered a contender for the leadership prior to this decision, but described the premier's directive regarding the June 1 deadline as a "bombshell" and infuriated fellow Tories when he told constituents "If I were the premier, I wouldn't want me sitting as a backbencher... I know where all the skeletons are." Political analysts believe the result of the March 31 vote can be attributed to concerns over how a "long goodbye" by a sitting premier can affect governing parties. There are still fresh memories across Canada of former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien 's lengthy retirement notice and a belief that this delay was the cause of Party Infighting In 2004 followed by reduction to a Minority Government in the 2004 Federal Election and then defeat in the 2006 Election . In addition, many Albertans believe that crucial and decisive actions will need to be taken in the coming months as a result of Alberta's booming economy and massive budgetary surplus, thus they believe now is not the time for a lame duck premier to remain in office. Even worse for some, Premier Klein's retirement plans, had they been carried out as intended, would inevitably have resulted in him appointing lame duck Cabinet Minister s who would replace the leadership candidates only to face probable removal from the Cabinet following the leadership vote. FORMAT The party has not yet finalized details regarding how the election will be conducted. The leader Nancy Betkowski ). Klein defeated Betkowski. The one member one vote system tends to be favoured in Alberta more so than in other parts of Canada due to the relatively strong influence that the Grassroots plays in Albertan Politics . However, some members are known to favour changing the format to Instant-runoff Voting (usually called '' Preferential Voting '' in Alberta) while retaining one member one vote. POSSIBLE CANDIDATES A number of current and former Tory MLA's have been mooted by various sources as possible contenders for the leadership:
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