A stalwart of the Progressive Labour Party has lent his qualified support to PLP leadership challenger Ewart Brown ? adding the election is exposing the lack of internal democracy within the party.

Dr. Brown is bidding to replace Alex Scott as leader of the PLP in a vote many insiders say will go all the way to the wire. But Arthur Hodgson, who was Environment Minister in the first years of the PLP Government, told The Royal Gazette: ?Dr. Brown is a bright fellow. He sees things very clearly. The problem with people who see things very clearly is they are sometimes impatient with those who are not so bright. But quite frankly I would rather go under the knife of a brilliant surgeon who?s autocratic rather than a carpenter who?s very pedantic in his approach.?

Mr. Hodgson said both former Premier Jennifer Smith and Alex Scott had been cautious leaders, keen to show the PLP could run a stable country.

The result had been the PLP had not challenged the status quo since being elected. ?It comes down to whether you believe government is based on opinion polls or based on what you believe are the right principles.

?We probably don?t have anything to lose in trying something new. We might now be ready for a bit more risk. Someone like Dr. Brown would take risks.?

Noting that Dr. Brown will walk away from politics if he doesn?t become leader Mr. Hodgson said it would be a shame for Bermuda to lose someone of his calibre.

Mr. Hodgson was sacked from Cabinet after a failed bid to replace Jennifer Smith as leader in 2000. At the same time Dr. Brown failed to replace Eugene Cox as her deputy.

He said he recalled Dr. Brown had been gearing up to go to go head to head with Mr. Scott in 2003 after Jennifer Smith was forced out by her MPs.

But when Eugene Cox stepped down as Deputy Leader, Dr. Brown took that post and allowed Mr. Scott to take the top job unopposed.

Mr. Hodgson said: ?I would be a bit surprised if Alex wasn?t at this point returning that courtesy.

?The parliamentarians were divided but Ewart very graciously stepped aside and gave the place to Alex.

?That kind of thing needs to happen from time to time. Alex has been there for a couple of years so I would be surprised if he didn?t show a similar kind of spirit.?

Mr. Hodgson indicated there was not a lot of obvious policy difference between the two candidates.

Asked about Mr. Scott?s ?Social Agenda? Mr. Hodgson said he did not know what was different from the previous policies.

Government should have got to grips with the tax system which currently puts a burden on the poor, said Mr. Hodgson, who suggested tax rebates to help those on the bottom rung.

Declining to name names, he said some of the Cabinet appointees under Mr. Scott had been inadequate.

He said: ?It?s very sad in public life when you see people being appointed, even in the present Government, who seem very nice people who become tragic figures.?

Dr. Brown would be measured by his successes in bringing cheaper flights while Alex Scott would be remembered for the Berkeley contract, said Mr. Hodgson.

?I think it was very courageous of Alex to award the contract to ProActive but I think he got cold feet.?

ProActive were then sacked after complaints about slow progress but Mr. Hodgson said: ?If Dr. Brown had been in that situation he would have been able to pull a few rabbits out of the hat. I think he would have solved the problems which came up.?

Mr. Hodgson said he was concerned about the way the delegates ? who have the bulk of the 150 or so votes in the October 27 leadership poll ? were being selected.

He said: ?I was involved very much in laying the foundation of the party and I think the main thrust was to have a party constitution that ensured inclusivity ? we wanted a society that was inclusive.

?For me the present hiatus of the party is whether or not we will be true to those early ideals.

?Since the realignment of the party organisation from parishes to individual constituencies, which is over three years ago, I have been summoned to only one meeting in my constituency.

?I don?t know what has happened in other constituencies but when I see things like this I am disturbed because if you are to have a participatory process you have to have regular meetings.?

He said the party had been set up so ordinary members could select delegates to represent them but this couldn?t be done if the party was moribund and there was a last-minute scramble to find someone to go.

And he said the lack of grass roots involvement meant factions could handpick delegates to support their cause.

?Anything other than the democratic process is an undermining of the ideals for which we fought.?

He said the United Bermuda Party believed in ?rulership from the top?. He went on: ?The fact that the PLP has fallen into that trap is rather ironic.?

Equally he said the PLP had fought long and hard for democracy to be extended with the publication of a voters list but internally it was difficult to know who the delegates were.

?The list should be circulated well in advance of the conference. It is no good circulating it at the last minute.?

And he said the same hierarchical structure was evident in the way Government policies were being formed. ?We should have participation ? ideas moving up not down.?

He said the PLP had campaigned for an extended franchise for the parish councils but in power it had stripped powers from them by moving oversight of rest homes to Government.

Yet he said the parish councils could have been an excellent vehicle for local input not just on care of seniors but also planning issues.

Greater strides needed to be made on economic empowerment said Mr. Hodgson who said too many Bermudians could not afford to own their own home.

Expanding his critique on the PLP?s performance in power he said the policy that people should not need to spend more than 25 percent of their income on housing had been long forgotten.

?There is nothing on the table to take us there.?

On the issue of development he said Government should be taking control of open spaces given their shortage and not hawking them around to the highest bidder.