Acting Premier Alex Scott last night said the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) was completely behind the leadership of Jennifer Smith - but assured the public that if ever she did decide to step down Government would be in good hands.

The Works and Engineering Minister made his comments after meeting with both the Central Committee and the executive of the PLP on Monday, where he had to report on the crunch parliamentary gathering last week where Ms Smith was urged to resign.

But his comments also followed remarks made by Attorney General Dame Lois Browne-Evans in The Royal Gazette yesterday in which she said she believed there was no one as capable of leading the country as Ms Smith.

She said no one else in the PLP had the “stamina and fortitude” to get the country through what work remained.

But that, said Mr. Scott, was merely Dame Lois' opinion, and said he felt sure there were at least seven Government MPs with the ability to be Premier, should Ms Smith ever decide she wanted to call it a day.

He said: “The party has the talent and the depth. I could get seven potential Premiers, in my humble opinion, if the Premier ever chose to step down. But she is not going anywhere.”

And the Attorney General's comments also drew criticism from former United Bermuda Party Cabinet Minister Ann Cartwright Decouto, who said her remarks had reflected badly on Government and the party.

But Mr. Scott said the meetings on Monday night, which are regular gatherings, left him in no doubt that the Premier had the majority support from the party. He said: “It was an attentive audience. Thanks to the Royal Gazette, we had more people there than usual. They wanted to know what was real, as opposed to reported.

“There was never any doubt (about support for the Premier). Without exception, people were very supportive towards the Premier. If there was an exception, it was just one speech in the Central Committee which could be argued was not as robust in support as the others were.

“This was confirmation of her standing in the party. This does not mean they are against anyone - they were just solidly for the Premier.”

Mr. Scott said members of the party made it clear that they were committed to ensuring that all challenges within the party were met responsibly and with the interest of the country at heart. And he said everyone was very keen to recognise that any intrigue that swirled around the party could impact on the country.

And while Mr. Scott was quick to say last night that he had no designs on the role of Premier himself, and was more than happy with Ms Smith's leadership, he believed there were many others who were capable.

Referring to Dame Lois' remarks, he said: “That was the Attorney General's view. My view is that the Premier is more than capable of leading the country, and has the support, but, should she ever decide that, after achieving 95 percent of her goals and working tirelessly., she wishes to hand over to someone else, there are many others who have equal talent in the party.

“Where she may be strong here, someone else may be strong elsewhere. It's that collective talent we want to draw on. I'm impressed with the talent of the backbench and extremely proud of being part of a very capable Cabinet.

“The PLP of yesterday, does not exist anymore. I could immediately come up with three Cabinet Ministers with Premier potential and, in the backbench, I could come up with four.”

But Mrs Cartwright Decouto said she remembered when former Premier Sir John Swan had made similar comments about nobody in the UBP being capable of the job, and then Opposition leader Frederick Wade giving a “statesman-like speech” in which he claimed there was any number of people in his team who could have replaced him as leader.

She said; “For both parties, at any given point in time, there is always a field marshal's baton in every private's knapsack. “I thought Dame Lois' remarks reflected very badly on her opinion of her fellow MPs. I think it speaks for itself. To say there is only one person capable of leading their party is an awful indictment. I find that very sad.”

And Mrs. Cartwright Decouto said she believed that if enough people in the PLP felt strongly enough about the Premier, they should discuss it as a group, settle it, and go to the Governor with their suggestion for a new leader.

Then he would be obliged, under the Bermuda Constitution to determine whether or not she had the majority support of the House.

And she said the PLP's Constitution, which states the party leader can only be chosen at the delegates' conference every two years, was “irrelevant” to the Bermuda Constitution.

She added: “Every party goes through their leadership problems and it's just time marching on. It's no indictment.”

But the former politician did say that she believed the two Cabinet Ministers who voted against Ms Smith should relinquish their roles on principle. She added: “You have either got to come to the wicket or stay in the pavilion - or go home. You cannot have two positions.”

But one source close to the party, said the PLP, as a whole, was divided over Ms Smith's leadership. He said: “Of course, the party is fundamentally divided. It should not affect the PLP's election chances, because people always pull together when an election is called.

“But the danger is that if they don't resolve it quickly, then the public will be disaffected and a number of PLP people will not come out and vote.”

The Royal Gazette revealed on Saturday how members of the Government backbench had requested a second caucus meeting last Thursday to discuss the issue of leadership and matters of concern. There, they asked the Premier to resign as leader of the Parliamentary group, citing their dissatisfaction at her style of leadership.

It is understood they claimed she was discrediting the party, and complained they were repeatedly being left out in the cold over important issues on policy, such as Caricom and Constitutional change.

However, the Premier refused to resign, leading to a vote, which resulted in a nine-nine hung decision.