Kate Forbes has declared she has "full confidence" in the process to elect a new SNP leader despite the party being rocked by a wave of resignations among its top officials.
The Finance Secretary, one of three candidates vying to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, claimed that internal decisions had been made by "too few people" in the past and members felt "disempowered" as a result.
Forbes was speaking after long-serving SNP chief executive Peter Murrell dramatically quit yesterday in the latest twist in a row over party membership. He confirmed his resignation just hours after Murray Foote, head of communications for SNP MSPs, announced his own departure.
The SNP was finally forced to admit last week that it had lost 30,000 members over the last two years - despite rubbishing earlier reports of an exodus.
"At the heart of this is decisions in the SNP have been taken by to few people, and I think that's well recognised across the political domain," Forbes told the Laura Kuenssberg Show on BBC 1.
"SNP members want to know that our institutions are democratic, that they can influence it, that they can shape policy. I think there has been a feeling that they are disempowered from that process."
Forbes previously backed a call from her rival Ash Regan for an independent auditor to be brought in to check the result of the leadership contest. Asked if the SNP leadership contest was being run fairly, Forbes said: "I have full confidence and trust in the process.
"The point I made around an independent auditor was to try and give as much trust and confidence to those that were voting. It's fairly standard common practice when it comes election contests for there to be that third-party independent auditing.
"I would hope that we can get to the end of this contest knowing that the decisions that SNP members are taking when they vote is the decision that they truly want when it comes to leadership of the party."
Asked what had gone wrong during the party's time in government, Forbes said: "The ability to listen and understand the priorities of the people we are here to serve.
'Secondly, the ability to deliver. When we have solid, good policies, we need to make them happen.
"I'm speaking to you from one end of the A9 - Scotland's backbone. We said we would dual it, we haven't done it. We need to be able to deliver.
"The third thing is independence. We have lost some of the respectful dialogue we need when it comes to persuading those not yet persuaded of the case for independence.
'We have to cut the abuse and the vitriol and actually respect the reasons for why people might not be persuaded."
Forbes also ruled out raising income tax in Scotland if she emerged as the next First Minister.
On the subject of her religious views, she said there has been "quite a stunning level of scrutiny and perhaps backlash from some quarters".
She said other people of faith have held high office in the UK and she vowed to ensure Scotland is a "tolerant and pluralistic nation".
The leadership race ends at noon on March 27 with a winner being announced that day.
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