Plans to offer Labour Party members a vote on the selection of candidates for the local, Dail and European elections have met with opposition from a number of members of the Parliamentary Party.
The significant change is a key element of a revamp of the party's constitution, which will be put before the annual conference in Cork at the end of September.
Some sitting TDs fear that the introduction of one-member-one-vote could weaken their positions, since each branch currently nominates four delegates to cast ballots at selection conventions.
The one-member-one-vote (OMOV) rule caused a degree of disruption after it was introduced into the Fine Gael rulebook until measures were taken to tighten up registration of party members.
The difficulties faced by the Louth FG TD, Mr Brendan McGahon, have not been lost on some Labour TDs. In the aftermath of the 1992 general election he said he would not stand again. Then he changed his mind. However, he won just 95 votes out of a total of 780 from local party members when he went before a local selection convention in September 1996.
He was later added to the party ticket by the then Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton.
"There is a belief that the change energised Fine Gael at local level, after they ironed out some difficulties with the electoral register," said one of the drafters of the new constitution, Mr Pat Magner, the Labour national organiser.
Some Labour TDs have expressed "strong opposition" to the change, although the Parliamentary Party has not yet formally considered the fruits of the Constitutional Review 2001. In an effort to stop "paper" registrations, a register of party members will be kept and updated each September. Only those who have paid their annual subscriptions before the March 31st deadline will be included.
"All in all, this is a significant change, but you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the lack of open debate about it in the party's ranks over recent months," said one Labour TD.
A burst of enthusiasm in the Labour ranks is badly needed. So far the party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, has failed despite much effort to connect with the voters.
Keen to be back in office, senior Labour figures concede that Sinn Fein, and left-wing independents, could hit them hard if they go into coalition with Fianna Fail. If it stays out of power, Labour could be seen as increasingly irrelevant.
An MRBI poll earlier this year which showed that Labour had fallen behind Sinn Fein in Dublin caused consternation amongst those around the Labour leader, although a subsequent poll reversed these placings.
If accepted by the annual conference, the new arrangement will not come into place in time for the next general election since candidates have already been selected in all but one constituency.
The exception is Cork South Central, where the former TD, Mr Toddy O'Sullivan, has decided that he will not stand again. The favourite to replace him on the ticket is Senator Brendan Ryan.
The OMOV change may also attract opposition from influential branch figures. "Some of them may not be happy, because it takes power away from the branch itself to the individual party member," said one source.
"Regardless of what people say, the branch is where the power is. These people can wield a lot of power by controlling the selection of delegates. It will be much harder to do that when each member can decide for themselves."
Elsewhere, the new constitution proposes the abolition of the existing 30-strong Executive Council and the much larger General Council, with their replacement by a 30strong National Executive Council.
Following the merger between Labour and the Democratic Left, it was decided that a number of top positions within the party structure would be shared for two years. For example, Labour has two co-chairmen, Mr John O'Brien and the former DL figure and trade unionist, Mr Pat Brady. This arrangement will end once the new constitution comes into force.
The draft will go before the General Council on August 30th. The council has power to amend it but the conference will have to accept or reject the document as a whole.
Displaying a sense of political correctness, the document's drafters suggest that "corporate membership" should be retitled "group membership". However, the change will mean little. Trade unions will still be able to both join and partly fund the organisation.
The former minister, Mr Mervyn Taylor, chaired the constitutional review group. The other members were Mr Magner, the party's General Secretary, Mr Mike Allen, Ms Angie Mulroy, Mr Angus Laverty, Mr Henry Haughton, Mr Ciairin De Buis, Ms Bridge Birmingham, Mr Jack Wall TD, Mr Noel Ward and Ms Aine Morris.