Two Cabinet resignations reveal "a crisis of confidence'' in the Government of Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan, Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade charged yesterday.

"Bermuda is faced with some major decisions which need to be carried out very carefully,'' Mr. Wade told The Royal Gazette .

"The Base closures, the foreign exchange removal proposal by (Finance Minister the Hon.) Dr. (David) Saul, Independence, and the recession.

"These are matters of urgent public importance, and we see an apparent disintegration of the Cabinet -- the body that is charged with handling these matters.

"I think that the John Swan administration has a crisis of confidence.'' Delegated Affairs Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto resigned from Cabinet on Wednesday. She said Government had "too much on its plate'' to be considering a referendum or Commission of Inquiry on Independence.

A day earlier, on Tuesday, Management and Technology Minister Sen. Michael Winfield stepped down from his Cabinet post, citing business and family obligations.

Mr. Wade said Sen. Winfield and Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto were "the very two people responsible for the Base matter.'' He was concerned that Sen. Grant Gibbons, who has never held a Cabinet post, was tipped to be the new point man on the Bases issue.

That made the Progressive Labour Party's call for a national committee on the Bases with Opposition representation "even more important,'' he said.

Government should commission a Green Paper on Independence and turn its full attention to the Bases, Mr. Wade said.

The United Bermuda Party did not campaign on Independence or the removal of foreign exchange controls in the recent general election, nor did they mention the issues in the Throne Speech. But, "suddenly, they are the most urgent matters facing the country.'' There was great division in Cabinet over Independence, an issue "John Swan is manufacturing as a Swan song for himself,'' Mr. Wade said.

The PLP would watch the situation closely and "take whatever steps we need to take to assure Bermuda gets stable Government,'' he said.

The UBP had charged a PLP Government would create instability in the international business sector, but "there must be some concern in that community about what's happening in this Government, when they see senior Ministers walking away like that.''