Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak serves as a DNC Vice Chair. | AP Photo Two DNC vice chairs call for more Democratic presidential debates

A pair of Democratic National Committee vice chairs echoed presidential candidate Martin O’Malley's call to increase the number of primary debates on Wednesday, asking the party committee to add new events and to drop the existing threat of punishment for candidates who participate in unsanctioned debates.

“We are the party that represents democratic principles, openness and transparency, and ensuring that all people, regardless of who they are or where they are from, have a level playing field and equal opportunity,” wrote Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak in a Facebook post.


The current plan “limits the ability of the American people to benefit from a strong, transparent, vigorous debate between our Presidential candidates, as they make the important decision of who will be our Democratic Presidential nominee,” they explained.

The development comes after weeks of internal conflict within the party reached a public peak during O’Malley's address to DNC members in Minneapolis last month. Standing just feet from committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the long-shot candidate railed against the committee’s decision to schedule just six debates, calling the process "rigged."

Wasserman Schultz has resisted adding more debates and has refused to drop the clause that says candidates can only participate in DNC-sanctioned events, despite the urging of O'Malley and his fellow candidate Bernie Sanders.

Front-runner Hillary Clinton over the weekend signaled her openness to participating in more debates for the first time, after previously refusing to engage on the question.

Clinton’s camp had initially wanted even fewer than six debates, while O’Malley's and Sanders’ camp lobbied for far more.

“We are in full agreement with the vice chair that the DNC should immediately drop its unprecedented exclusivity requirement and schedule more debates in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada,” wrote senior O’Malley strategist Bill Hyers in a statement on Wednesday night.

“At the very least, Democrats in these states should have at least one additional opportunity to hear from their Presidential candidates in each of their states before they make up their minds."

The first Democratic debate is currently scheduled for Nevada on Oct. 13, followed by another in Des Moines on Nov. 14. The third is in Manchester, New Hampshire on Dec. 19, followed by Charleston, South Carolina on Jan. 17. The party is also scheduled to have two more in February or March: one in Miami, and one in Wisconsin.