THE battle for the Progressive Labour Party leadership turned nasty last night, with one camp accusing the other of acting unethically in a desperate bid to quash the democratic process.

Long-time party member Rolfe Commissiong accused former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith of launching a desperate behind-the-scenes campaign to stop delegates voting for challenger Ewart Brown.

Dame Jennifer, who is backing Premier Alex Scott in his bid to remain leader of the party, is accused of attempting to persuade party branches to vote as a block.

Mr. Commissiong charged the tactic was an attempt to reduce the risk of individual delegates in branches the Premier regards as safe, from voting for his competitor.

Dame Jennifer was toppled from office in 2003 following a coup by rebel Parliamentarians led by Dr. Brown. She was replaced as Premier and party leader by Mr. Scott, who was seen as a compromise candidate able to bring the warring Smith / Brown camps together.

Party insiders say Dame Jennifer is now determined to block Dr. Brown's second attempt to become Premier.

About 160 delegates representing 36 branches will decide the outcome of the leadership contest in an election next Friday. Under the PLP constitution, delegates can vote individually for their preferred candidate.

But, according to Mr. Commissiong, pro-Scott branch executives are being persuaded by Dame Jennifer to force all delegates in a particular branch to vote the same way.

He said that Dr. Brown's campaign was gathering momentum and that the "patently undemocratic" ploy was a desperate bid to block any build-up in the challenger's support.

"Dame Jennifer Smith has tried to use her influence to get the executive of the party, many of whom are closely associated with her, to put out a policy directive that would compel respective branches to vote as a block," Mr. Commissiong said.

"There are two things that come to mind in response to that. Firstly, in all my time in the Progressive Labour Party, there has been no precedence for that.

If a branch, on its own, decided there's unanimity for a particular candidate at the time of the conference they would make that decision, but to compel branches to follow that road is patently undemocratic.

"I think it speaks to the degree of desperation from the Alex Scott camp. The reason I'm speaking out about it is because both the Premier and the former deputy Ewart Brown made a pledge that this process is one that would take the high road.

"It follows from that that it would be a process that speaks to better ideals rather than one that descends into political mudslinging.

"The question I'm asking now is, if the Premier is not aware of this then, once having been made aware of it, will he take appropriate action to ensure that the democratic rights of delegates is not going to be infringed or that coercion will have any part in them exercising their will.

"I think it's going to backfire and I think it's going to backfire spectacularly. I believe this is just an example of overzealous supporters acting unethically simply because they may feel that the political winds may have shifted against them.

"It's unfortunate. I don't think that Dame Jennifer will succeed because the tactic is being viewed highly unfavourable by the delegates up and down the country and it's not something that will accrue to her benefit.

"I would hope that the Premier rises to the challenge on this much as my political mentor and his dear friend and colleague Frederick Wade would have done in this instance."

Mr. Commissiong added that he believed next week's election would be a close one because Dr. Brown was gaining ground.

"I think because of some very astute and diligent work on the part of Dr. Brown and his campaign team, he has made some significant inroads in what some may have viewed a few weeks ago as the unassailable support base that was felt to be in the hands of the old guard and Alex's control," he said.

"The momentum is growing and I think will probably continue. That's not downplaying the very real strength that is still possessed by both the Premier and those who support him but it is going to be a far more difficult fight for the Premier to retain his position than many people would have guessed a few weeks ago."