Government MPs will attend Friday's meeting of the Rules and Privileges Committee to discuss Dr. Ewart Brown's eligibility to sit as an MP, Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said yesterday.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade said on Friday his MPs will boycott the meeting.

House Speaker the Hon. Ernest DeCouto called the meeting in response to a June 8 report in The Royal Gazette which said Dr. Brown was elected a Progressive Labour Party MP for Warwick West in apparent breach of Bermuda's Constitution.

Dr. Brown, a long-time California resident and physician, obtained American citizenship in 1990 after pledging allegiance to the United States and its flag. Bermuda's Constitution says that anyone who has pledged allegiance to a foreign power is ineligible to seek election as an MP.

Mr. DeCouto said the meeting in his chambers would be "exploratory''. Mr.

Wade said only the Supreme Court can rule on an MP's eligibility, and warned the Speaker could provoke a "constitutional crisis'' by acting outside his powers in calling the meeting.

The Premier had expressed concern on Friday about a Parliamentary committee acting on the basis of a newspaper report. But he said yesterday he had no misgivings about the meeting.

"I will be attending,'' Sir John said. "The Speaker has requested it, and it is his job to maintain the order of the House.

"I will have to be guided by the Speaker.'' Since the story about Dr. Brown appeared, Bermuda lawyers have offered conflicting opinions as to whether his election was valid. While the Premier has called on Mr. Wade to ask the MP to resign, Mr. Wade has said his party is prepared to defend in court its position that Dr. Brown was elected legally.