Newly appointed Senator and Junior Minister Marc Bean has rejected claims that Premier Dr. Ewart Brown is elitist.

Sen. Bean, who was appointed to the upper chamber of Parliament earlier this year, said working with the Premier directly has allowed him to observe and understand his leadership qualities.

"Many people see him in the public or in the media and their opinions are formed or shaped by what they hear, but I can speak from a position of being up close and personal<' he said.

"Dr. Brown is not a perfect man, I've said that on other occasions, but nobody's perfect and he is a very strong leader."

Sen. Bean rejected assertions that the Premier made arbitrary or personal decisions.

"In my observation, if you get cut off or have a position taken away from you, it's not something Dr. Brown has done because of personal reasons, but because you have not been able to produce and deliver," Sen. Bean said. "He gives you the freedom to be self sufficient. If you say you're going to do something, then you need to do it.

"Oftentimes you have people who come up short, and he is not having that. As with any good leader, he expects you to deliver.

"He can only lead and direct but other people have to be responsible and carry our their mandate too."

And Dr. Brown is approachable, he argued.

"He takes advice and he listens, contrary to what people may think, he listens, but at the same time, because he is a physician, he is decisive," Sen. Bean said. "In other words, he will make the final decision if that responsibility is not carried out by the person to whom it is delegated."He believes much of the criticism directed towards the Premier is unfair.

"It's annoying to see certain people run out and talk to the press and run him down but, when we are altogether in caucus, these same people who were running their mouths are quiet and have nothing to say," Sen. Bean said."To me, that's cowardly and immature, and it shows that their interests are personal and not in the best interest for the country rather, some personal vendetta, I'll call it as I see it.

"Stand up and speak your mind when we are all in the room so that we can come to a mutual solution, to what you identify as being a challenge."

In June, former Attorney General Phil Perinchief called on the PLPto turf out Premier Ewart Brown who he accused of being egotistical, autocratic and an electoral liability.

And an independent poll commissioned by this newspaper and published on July 9 showed that only three in ten voters had a favourable opinion of Dr. Brown compared to seven in ten for Finance Minister and Deputy Premier Paula Cox.