Premier Alex Scott's plans to consult the United Bermuda Party on some national issues has been met with a "wait and see" attitude from the Opposition.

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons told the media yesterday that he had not been approached by Mr. Scott directly but would be happy to hear him out.

But he added that the new government's credibility had been "badly damaged" by recent internal wrangling, and that it did not seem to have a clear sense of direction.

"This issue of talking about unity and putting Bermudians first sounds good but the new Progressive Labour Party Government will be judged certainly by what they do this time as opposed to what they say," he said.

"The second issue that they are going to need to tackle is the issue of where they plan to take this country. It's very clear that we seem to have a government which doesn't seem to have any direction and they seem to be making it up as they go along.

"The question is: Will they or won't they stick with the platform they espoused in the lead up to the election?"

He said that the Progressive Labour Party had presented "no real plan on housing, no real plan for the seniors nor any other major social issues that are affecting this country right now".

Justice and Legislative Affairs shadow Minister John Barritt referred to an interview by Mr. Scott in which he said that aspects of the PLP platform could be revised.

"Those of us in the Opposition and indeed the country are going to wait to see the extent to which they flesh out or deviate from the platform," he said. "Because any deviation I think is going to be a hard sell - having not run on anything they come up with that wasn't in the platform."

He said he was also looking forward to seeing how Mr. Scott extends his invitation to consult with his party.

"All that sounds good and he's saying the right things - no one's going to argue that. But it's how its going to be translated into action," Mr. Barritt said.

"What's going to be their approach in the new session in terms of bipartisan committees? Last session they effectively killed the idea of reform of the rules of the House of Assembly by sending it to the Rules and Privileges Committee, and then never taking it up there.

"Is that going to happen this time? Are we going to have some meaningful opportunity to participate in the government of this country?"

He said he was not necessarily sceptical but "if you are going to make the call to cooperation and bipartisanship work, you've got to give people meaningful vehicles, meaningful opportunities to participate".

Mr. Barritt added that he was personally willing to wait and see what Mr. Scott comes up with.

In his first statement after taking over the Premiership from Jennifer Smith, Mr. Scott said that he would be looking at ways to move the country forward together, including consulting with the Opposition party on issues such as seniors and housing.

The UBP had promised the same thing with the use of bipartisan committees.