United Bermuda Party leader Pam Gordon last night insisted the only reason the party whip has been withdrawn from rebel MP Trevor Moniz is his refusal to attend meetings.

Ms Gordon quashed suggestions that the disciplinary action was to punish the Smith's South MP for his campaign to set up a register of members' interests or his opposition to former UBP Premier Sir John Swan's attempts to open McDonald's restaurants.

She opened the way for the maverick MP to return to the fold, saying the whip could be restored if he gave a written undertaking to his fellow UBP MPs that his attendance of parliament and caucus meetings would improve.

Last night, Mr. Moniz said he would have to have the matter clarified in writing because he claimed the position kept changing.

He said on Thursday, Opposition whip Cole Simons told him he was suspended for between six and 12 months.

On Friday, he said Ms Gordon said the whip was withdrawn indefinitely. Now Ms Gordon was offering the possibility of the whip being restored.

Ms Gordon met Mr. Moniz's branch chairman David Tavares yesterday to discuss the disciplinary action. Mr. Tavares has supported the MP, but last night neither he nor Ms Gordon would discuss the content of their meeting.

Moniz accused of failing to turn up to meetings But last night Ms Gordon told The Royal Gazette : "I want to express my regret that Trevor Moniz is unwilling to make the time commitment necessary to be a UBP MP.

"In the past, he has made a valuable contribution to the party. But his fellow MPs were increasingly frustrated by his failure to attend both Parliament and his party meetings on a regular basis.

"The public should not be misled into thinking that this has anything to do with other issues such as his support for the MPs register of interests or his position on the McDonald's case.

"By his own admission, he views attending Parliament as `seat warming'. That attitude is not fair on the people he represents and certainly not fair on his parliamentary colleagues.

"The decision by his fellow UBP MPs to withdraw the party whip is based on his unwillingness to participate in a manner acceptable to all of us.

"If all the members took the attitude that Mr. Moniz has displayed, the Opposition benches would be empty and there would be no caucus meetings.

"Our job is to work in the best interests of the people of Bermuda and the job we have been elected to do, and therefore we have a responsibility first of all to the people and secondly to our party.

"Mr. Moniz has showed up at 5 p.m. in Parliament and left not long after 6 p.m. He has refused to make any improvement to his attendance and it is based on this action alone that the whip has been withdrawn.

"The only way he can return is if he is prepared to submit a letter to his parliamentary colleagues indicating that he is prepared to attend caucus meetings and Parliament on a regular basis starting at 10 a.m.

"He would have to demonstrate a willingness to be a part of a political party organisation and all that entails rather than acting as if he is an independent member.

"The only reason I am commenting at all is to clarify the position which was brought into the public domain by Mr. Moniz.'' Mr. Moniz said he would need to clarify the matter in writing because "it is hard to reply to a moving target''. He said there was no proviso about the whip being restored in the letter he received last Friday.

He said Ms Gordon was "clearly wrong'' in saying he felt that attending Parliament was seat warming.

"What I view as seat warming is attending Parliament merely to warm a seat, i.e. unless you are putting forward a motion and are in a position to support it,'' Mr. Moniz said.

"If you are an Opposition spokesman, which I am not, you can reply as an Opposition member. I have been forwarding motions, which is more than other members have done.

"I will admit my frustration at the lack of activity. Why should I come to a caucus when nothing was accomplished, nothing was discussed, and nothing was done? "I said to them: `Providing there is some activity, when Opposition spokesmen start tabling positions on issues, then I am more than happy to discuss these positions'.''