MPs who have joined the Hon. Irving Pearman in promising to resign if Friday's vote on the Independence Referendum Act is lost.

The two names most commonly mentioned were Hamilton West MPs the Hon. Maxwell Burgess and the Hon. Wayne Furbert.

Not just the news media were speculating, but members of the Government caucus. When Mr. Pearman's letter to the Premier that contained the threat was read to the Parliamentary caucus on Thursday, the four MPs who would join Mr.

Pearman in resigning were not identified.

In the letter, Mr. Pearman said that if the vote to permit the Independence referendum was lost, he and the others would "have lost confidence in the party, the system and our Parliamentary colleagues.'' Not only would they resign their seats, but they would abstain if the Opposition brought a vote of non-confidence in the Government, the letter said. That would virtually assure a general election.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan refused to comment yesterday, and would not even confirm that he knows the identity of the four MPs.

There was initial speculation that one or more of the Government members who offered to resign sat in the Senate, rather than the House of Assembly. But Mr. Pearman told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the four were all MPs.

Mr. Burgess refused to comment, while Mr. Furbert was off the Island.

Speculation centred around Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons, who refused to comment on whether he had offered to resign. So did Youth and Sport Minister the Hon. Pamela Gordon and Government backbencher the Hon. Harry Soares.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul was also off the Island yesterday. A member of Mr. Pearman's committee that wrote the Green Paper, he was not believed to be one of the MPs involved in the resignation threat.

Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill, who also sat on the committee, first agreed to make a statement to The Royal Gazette , but later changed his mind. But sources said that he told caucus colleagues he was not among the MPs who made the resignation threat.

Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness, Deputy Speaker Mr. Tim Smith, and Government backbencher Mrs. Grace Bell all said they had not threatened to resign. Sources said Government Whip Mr. John Barritt and Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons had not threatened to resign, either.

Backbenchers Mr. David Dodwell and Mr. Rick Spurling could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday. But both were considered unlikely candidates to resign.

Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge, the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto, Dr. David Dyer, and Mr. Trevor Moniz are all opposed to the referendum and were not considered candidates to resign.