And last year, Trevor Ngwane, an African National Congress councilman in Johannesburg, was suspended from his party positions for publicly criticizing the A.N.C.-led council's planned privatization of government services.
Lawmakers rejected President René Préval's first two nominees to replace the prime minister and repeatedly delayed votes on Ms. Pierre-Louis as they jockeyed for party position in the next cabinet.
WASHINGTON — With both parties positioning for difficult negotiations to avert a fiscal crisis as Congress returns for its lame-duck session, Democrats are latching on to an idea floated by Mitt Romney to raise taxes on the rich through a hard cap on income tax deductions.
Despite talk of introducing competitive election for party positions if not state ones, the process has been stalled since 1987.
That would mean that upstate voters would have the right to write in candidates for party positions while city voters would not.
The Legislature responded with a bill giving local governments the option of providing write-in space for public offices but not for political party positions on the same ballot.
One cabinet member suggested John Swinney for the job - but he has made clear that he will not stand for any party position.
The party position has been not to call for one now, although the Labour for A Referendum group was launched on Tuesday.
The state Democratic Party constitution requires that Democratic officials who endorse a candidate of an opposing party be immediately stripped of all party positions, along with party support for campaigns.
But the suggested merger comes as parties position themselves for local elections, scheduled for November.
Government spending has become a growing issue as the two parties position themselves for the November elections.
