Lots of time left for Liberal leadership: president

With a month to go before nominations close, only one candidate has come forward for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.

And that person is also thecurrent interim leader, Dwight Ball.

"There's plenty of time. We still have a month left for individuals to declare," says party president Judy Morrow. "And then, of course, our actual convention is not until November, so then there's a lot of time for organization on the ground for those individuals that have declared their candidacy for the leadership."

According to Morrow, there has been some interest circulating from people such as Gerry Byrne, wholater decided not to run, but no others have confirmed a run.

She said if there is only one candidate, Ball will permanently move into the role.

Morrow said that ensuring the party is united behind a leader, regardless of whether it's contested, is vital.

"A party's going to be successful only if it unifies post-leadership race. There's no question about that.

"And, you know, we did learn our lessons from the race that we had ... the last big contested race, I guess, back in 2001. So I have full confidence whether we have a contested race, like we just did at the federal level or, you know, whether or not there's only one candidate in the race, that at the end of the day the Liberals have learned their lesson, and we will unite behind our leader and go forward and prepare for (the next provincial election in) 2015."

Morrow said the party has implemented a new process for electing a leader, and any registered member or supporter of the party will be able to vote for a candidate until the end of September.