Opposition leader Kim Swan last night accused the Progressive Labour Party of "twisting itself into a knot of confusion" over the oath of allegiance to Premier Ewart Brown issue.

PLP chairman David Burt has claimed the statement — signed by Cabinet ministers in support of Dr. Brown shortly before he faced a debate over his leadership last week — was not an oath and merely a press statement which the party decided not to make public. However, Deputy Premier Paula Cox has publicly described herself as having signed "an oath".

Mr. Swan said in a statement last night: "Over the past week, the PLP Government has twisted itself into a knot of confusion that is not helping Bermuda confront the serious challenges it faces. The loyalty oath initiated by the Premier helped turn back an internal challenge to his leadership, but it has left people scratching their heads about just what ministers signed.

"As things stand, the Finance Minister says she signed an 'oath' in support of the Premier while the PLP chairman contradicts her, saying the document was not an oath but an expression of solidarity with the Premier. The Government clearly did not get the memo from the chairman, as its ministers did not contradict and indeed perpetuated the story of loyalty oaths for four business days."

Mr. Swan said the document — written and circulated by Home Affairs Minister David Burch — elevated Cabinet ministers' loyalty to Dr. Brown above their constitutional duty to serve Bermuda.

He added: "It appears we will never know the truth behind the matter, other than the Premier, facing an internal challenge, twisted arms to turn back the challenge in a way that raised constitutional concerns about the duties and loyalties of Cabinet ministers.

"Any way one cuts it, Bermuda continues to take second place to the politics of one man. That all Cabinet ministers have now given their wholehearted support to a Premier whose leadership has raised questions about ethics, fair and open management of the public purse, press freedom and our international reputation should not be lost on any Bermudian who cares about the future of this great Island."

The document signed by MPs stated: "Because of the recent discussions in the media regarding the leadership of our Premier, Dr. the Hon. Ewart F. Brown JP MP, we find it necessary to issue the following statement: 'Premier Ewart Brown enjoys the full support of Cabinet members and we acknowledge that there are various stories in print and on talk radio about whether Premier Brown will maintain the leadership of the PLP.

"Our intent here is to state that members of Cabinet stand behind the Premier and expect to continue to perform as a unified Government working on behalf of the Bermudian people."

The PLP says that after the signatures were collected, it was decided not to make it public.

Mr. Burt said on his PLP blog yesterday: "There was a press statement signed by all nine Cabinet Ministers and nowhere on that document do the words 'oath' or 'loyalty' appear. However, both words appear in Wednesday and Saturday Royal Gazette headlines and at least 15 times in a statement from the Opposition Leader.

"Give us a break!"

He added: "There has never been an 'oath of loyalty' except in the media and in the imagination of the Opposition leader. As a party, we'd ask the Royal Gazette confirm its numerous anonymous sources before printing their fiction as fact."

The source for this newspaper's front page story about the oaths on Saturday was Ms Cox's interview on the Everest DeCosta talk show.

"It is out in the public domain that there was a request, I was the only one who had a caveat on mine," Ms Cox told the radio show.

She added that when Sen. Burch invited her to sign "an oath" or "a commitment given all the talk and hoopla I said so long as — I put it in writing — that it is very clear that the summary does not mitigate against the importance of Wednesday night's caucus meeting that there is a firm, frank and unfettered discussion."