A Green Party official who deals with the party’s elections policies has stepped down from his post, citing lack of member consultation ahead of a planned leadership review.

In an email obtained by iPolitics, Colin Griffiths, the chair of the party’s Internal Nominations and Elections Fairness Committee, wrote that he is resigning from the committee after the party’s Federal Council decided there would not be a party- administered member forum allowing post-election leadership debate prior to the planned review vote.

In an email sent to Green Party Interim President Bob MacKie, Griffiths writes:

“While we succeeded in providing an excellent revision of the rules for the internal elections, I believe we have failed the party in not developing substantially better rules for the leadership review.”

“Further, our failure to accommodate a mechanism of wider discussion, given the strong feelings that have already been voiced within council and cabinet emails, will very likely result in a more acrimonious and divisive process.”

“Greater engagement by members is something that I feel is essential in a democratic leadership review. In large part its absence from the process is my responsibility and therefore I am resigning.”

In a second email sent later to other Green Party leadership, he continued the point and wrote that holding a review without a debate first would be like holding a referendum on separation without giving space to both sides of the argument beforehand.

“I take responsibility for my failure to persuade my committee to propose changes to the rules, and my failure to present this argument to federal council.”

Some members have suggested a kind of online forum to be held so membership can discuss leadership direction and an election postmortem. A statement from the party said it has a “clear, direct and democratic method of conducting a leadership review following a general election” and that it is currently conducting a postmortem with feedback from candidates and supporters.

Earlier in the week, Elizabeth May said she decided against forcing a leadership convention after Johan Hamels, former executive director of the party and its current international liaison urged Green Party leadership to “proactively organize a leadership election in 2016 rather than the currently planned leadership review.”

Instead, the party is holding a mandated leadership review, the same process it followed after the last election, which May told the Vancouver Sun is transparent and open. She also told the Sun that she couldn’t do her “job as a member of Parliament” if she was “in a leadership race right now.”

If the email review reaches a 60 per cent threshold of members who want a leadership race, that automatically triggers one. The review is expected to conclude by April 15 and a convention will be held in August.