The Liberal party's board of directors met this weekend in Ottawa and agreed to create a committee to oversee the rules and expense limits of the upcoming leadership contest.

The board has not yet established the rules for the competition—including who will be eligible to run — and will hold another meeting in early June to set the ground rules. The board will also finalize when the leadership vote will take place. It is scheduled to be held some time between March and June of 2013 and the contest would kick off in October at the earliest.

This weekend's gathering of the board in Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday was the first time its members had met in person since the party's convention in January. The Liberals elected a new party president at the convention, Mike Crawley, and passed a number of controversial motions, including the creation of a supporter category for membership.

The proposal was made by the Liberals' national board in its "Roadmap to Renewal" plan for rebuilding the party and it required an amendment to the constitution.

The party's constitution has now been rewritten to accomodate the new membership category and this weekend the board was reviewing the revised text.

The Liberals have opened pre-registration on the party's website for people who want to join as supporters instead of full members, but the party is still working out the details to launch the new membership category.

The party's interim leader, Bob Rae, hasn't clearly indicated whether he wants to keep the job permanently. When he took on the interim leadership he agreed not to seek the job permanently but at this time, there is no rule barring him from running.

In a recent interview with a Summerside, P.E.I. newspaper, Rae said he'll wait to see what rules are set by the party's board before making a decision.

"The party is going to have to decide what the rules are and if they say they're going to take the limitation on the interim leader then, obviously, I've got a decision to make," he told the Pioneer-Journal.

"Arlene and I will make that decision once the party's made up its mind. There's going to be a contest for the leadership. It's not going to be a coronation for the leadership. It's going to be a very competitive, open race. I'm just waiting to hear whether or not I'm allowed to participate in it."

Other Liberal MPs who have indicated they might be interested in running for leader include David McGuinty and Marc Garneau.