Brian Cookson: Pat McQuaid's attempt to change UCI election rules 'smacks of attempted dictatorship' This latest twist appears to be nothing more than a fraught attempt to undemocratically and unconstitutionally impact on the process while it is under way. It is no wonder that many in the cycling family as well as fans and sponsors have lost faith in the UCI to govern ethically when the man at the top of the organisation is prepared to embarrass an entire sport in an attempt to try and cling onto power. It is surely completely out of order to allow a proposal to change an electoral procedure, once that procedure is underway. What sort of organisation attempts to rewrite the rules once an election has actually begun? It smacks of attempted dictatorship. It seems to me that, at best, all of this is bringing the validity and impartiality of the terms and conditions of the electoral process into serious question. At worst, this is beginning to look like a concerted attempt to manipulate the election in an undemocratic and unconstitutional way. I know that other members of the management committee share my concerns and this will be expressed directly to the UCI director general. The fight for a democratic and transparent process is now on and the choice for the voters has never been clearer. The already-enacted amendment still requires ratification at UCI Congress on the day of the election, so the retrospective rule change could ultimately be rendered invalid. But it would appear an increasingly-desperate McQuaid is gambling on it not being challenged once in place. The latter federation has been forced to commence arbitration proceedings over its decision to back McQuaid over what many claim is a breach of UCI rules instructing individual federations to take heed of decisions made by their counterparts in other territories. A three-strong panel is expected to rule whether the nomination of McQuaid is valid during a hearing in Zurich on August 22.