As the Parti Quebecois gathers in Gatineau to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary session, the battle is over who will be the next leader of the party.
Alexandre Cloutier is seen as the frontrunner to become the party's third leader since 2014.
But his opponents said Cloutier's supporters are making it difficult for them to reach out to party members.
A dozen PQ MNAs support Cloutier's bid to become party leader, and leadership candidates Martine Ouellet and Jean-Francois Lisée said they have had problems talking to the rank and file.
Whether it's going to a summer BBQ, or trying to get membership lists from certain ridings, the candidates said they're being stymied.
"It's clear that in some of the ridings that Alexandre Cloutier has MNAs in, it's tougher to have access to members than in other ridings," said Lisée.
Ouellet said she believes the party brass has made its choice and is trying to suppress party members.
"What I feel in the field is that all the members are just a bit fed up with the power of the establishment, and the party and the power should go back to the members. That's how the Parti Quebecois is working," said Ouellet.
Cloutier dismissed the complaints as sour grapes, and said he has faced challenges this summer.
"It's so ridiculous. Now they feel that they're losing the race and they try to invent new rules," said Cloutier.
Four debates are scheduled to take place in Montreal and in other areas over the next few weeks, but candidates are trying to pressure Cloutier into taking part in an additional debate in his riding of Lac St. Jean.
Cloutier said it's a non-issue.
"I'm going to participate in every debate that is part of this race. There's no doubt about that," he said.
Last year the candidate who was chosen leader of the party, Pierre Karl Peladeau, did not attend one debate. Instead he took part via closed-circuit TV.
