Warnings of a new turf war between Police Scotland and its watchdog have been branded "depressing" by a former senior officer.
His suggestion was countered by SPA insiders, who insist they and police commanders are committed to close working.
But Labour's justice spokesman Graeme Pearson, a former head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, called for Mr MacAskill's successors to act.
Mr Pearson, pictured above, said: "The point of a cabinet secretary for Justice is to ensure that turf wars at public expense do not occur in any area of the justice portfolio.
"The people appointed to public posts are there to lead their respective organisations to deliver on behalf of the public. These are not private fiefdoms provided for individual entertainment."
Mr Pearson said: "The idea of a turf war repeating itself is depressing. "It betrays the very benefits arising from a single police service was designed to achieve.
"The concept of a single service remains intact, it can, it will deliver for our communities but only if those privileged to lead accept their responsibilities and instead of wallowing in ego driven argument."
Mr MacAskill's concerns, expressed in an article published in Police Professional magazine, came just as an English officer called Phil Gormley. pictued below, took up his post as Scotland's chief constable.
This appointment came amid speculation - rejected by the SPA - that Scottish candidates had been overlooked.
Citing reports of "seemingly petty" etiquette issues over who had primacy, Mr MacAskill suggested "discord over the nature of the relationship between police chiefs and SPA's new and inexperienced chairman, Andrew Flanagan.
He added: "No smoke without fire, as the saying goes, and there was clearly friction. The substantive argument was clearly not protocol but power.
"The new chair was clearly eager to establish his precedence over the service and the chief constable in particular."
Mr MacAskill, pictured below, also used his article to suggest future SPA chairs be confirmed by parliament rather than the justice secretary. This, he acknowledged, was a Labour plan with "some merit".
Mr Pearson, who proposed such a mechanism, said: "It was intended to declare publicly that the convenor of the SPA was not, as a post, merely a deniable extension of government and therefore political in aspect."
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