Premier Alex Scott yesterday clarified his party's stance on the procedure to be used to make Bermuda an independent nation, saying that the PLP was willing to be guided by Bermudians.

And the word from Government House is that any move towards Independence should be the result of the “clearly and constitutionally expressed wish of the people”.

The Premier was asked whether the ruling Progressive Labour Party still held the position that Independence should be achieved through a General Election.

“Yes, the PLP obviously has for many years held the position that the way to identify the popular support for a move to sovereignty and Independence is via a General Election. But what we are doing is opening up the whole discussion about Independence to the public and we are going to listen very closely, so our position long held is going to be looked at in the context of what Bermuda and Bermudians are saying. So while that is our position now, who knows what it might be in the future, depending on where Bermudians are,” the Premier said.

Asked whether that meant that the party was flexible he said: “We're listening. It means we're listening.”

On Sunday Mr. Scott called for a national dialogue on Independence at his party's annual Founders' Day luncheon.

The Progressive Labour Party has advocated Independence for Bermuda since its founding in the early 1960s. It has also taken the position that it should be achieved through a General Election, a stance which puts it at odds with the Opposition United Bermuda Party, which says that the proper way would be to have a referendum followed by a constitutional conference.

Asked if his call for dialogue was in effect wiping the slate clean, the Premier said: “My speech on Sunday was about asking Bermudians to join in and just express themselves freely in any way they want on the subject of Independence. I don't think you can wipe the slate clean - there are so many constitutional things that are constant. But I think Bermuda's grown, I think we have matured as a people and I think we are to hear and see that reflected in the discussion on that subject. No one's pressured, there's no pending election, no referendum coming and folks can feel free.”

He reported that Cabinet spent some time discussing the role Government could officially play in the discussion.

“I have asked the PLP chairman to set up a committee and I think out of those two exercises will come suggestions on the way forward, but we will be asking others in the community to give their suggestions as to how we are going to advance,” Mr. Scott said. “One thing we are not going to do is allow it to just sit on the table and then disappear into yesterday. We are going to keep the thoughts before the public because I think it's an idea whose time has come.”

Governor Sir John Vereker said that the Premier's call for a national dialogue seemed “a perfectly sensible initiative”.

Mr. Scott stressed that his Government was not trying to pre-empt anything. “Collectively we will come to some type of position.”

And asked if he was hoping that the next election would be fought with both parties defining their vision of an independent Bermuda, he said: “We haven't even gone that far. Next election? Who's thinking in those terms? That's going way down the road. I haven't thought in those terms. We are just thinking of the now.”

Asked what procedures should be used for Bermuda's Independence, the Governor quoted the British Government's 1999 White Paper on its relations with its colonies, which said that Britain would back moves to Independence “when Independence is the clear and constitutionally expressed wish of the people”.

He would not go beyond the White Paper statement, or even say what that meant for Bermuda.