MONTREAL - Mario Dumont's hopes of a breakthrough for his Action democratique du Quebec in three byelections on Monday were dashed as his party's candidates failed to garner any significant support.

The Parti Quebecois held onto two Montreal strongholds, while the governing Liberals kept a riding in western Quebec.

PQ candidate Nicole Leger romped to victory in Pointe-aux-Trembles with about 55 per cent of the vote, while former Bloc Quebecois MP Maka Kotto easily won Bourget for the sovereigntist party, and Liberal Maryse Gaudreault emerged victorious in Hull.

The real story was the ADQ's meltdown.

In Bourget, the party dropped to fourth with about 10 per cent of the popular vote, compared with 23 per cent and a second-placed finish in the general election in March 2007.

In Pointe-aux-Trembles, the drop was just as dramatic, with star candidate Diane Bellemare getting only 14 per cent of the vote as she struggled lamely into third.

The party got 26.5 per cent of the vote in 2007 and came in second behind then-PQ leader Andre Boisclair.

The humiliation was completed in Hull where candidate Jean-Philip Ruel obtained just more than three per cent of the popular vote and finished a distant fifth.

Dumont's party, which forms the official Opposition in the legislature, had pinned its hopes on making a breakthrough in the Montreal ridings.

But the ADQ has been in a freefall in recent public opinion polls, with one survey pegging its support as low as 17 per cent, way behind the Liberals and the PQ.

The party has been criticized for being too centred around Dumont, although it has also suffered from a spike in support for Premier Jean Charest and his Liberal government.

The byelection results give the Liberals 48 seats in the 125-member legislature, the ADQ 41, and the PQ 36.

The byelections were the first in the province since Pauline Marois became PQ leader last year.

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