Parliamentary session in The Royal Gazette .

The advertisement claimed it was "a session that produced results'' -- but last night Acting Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith said the advertisement was an attempt to paper over the cracks in a crumbling party.

Premier David Saul, Environment Minister Pamela Gordon and backbencher Irving Pearman all signed the advertisement, which claims the achievements of the last session "built new foundations for Bermuda's continued economic and human prosperity''.

The advertisement pointed to the Base Lands Development Act and the new Education Act as two of the party's achievements in the last session.

Dr. Saul said yesterday: "There have been lots of successes and a lot of very good legislation passed where everyone acted as a team.'' And he said: "This advert is the first of what will be a series.'' But yesterday, Ms Smith said she was convinced the advertisement would fool no-one.

She added: "It's amusing really. A better place for it would be on the leader page of the Royal Gazette -- at the top where it usually has the cartoon.'' Ms Smith said: "The advertisement mentions two bills -- I know we have had more than that presented.

"If bragging about two bills is the sum total of it, the public needs to ask serious questions.'' Government suffered several embarrassing defeats in the session after backbench rebels in the House of Assembly broke ranks.

UBP backbencher Ann Cartwright DeCouto's bill to ban restaurants with a foreign flavour was passed and would have outlawed Sir John Swan's bid to open a McDonald's restaurant in Bermuda had the bill not been later defeated in the Senate.

And the UBP rebels worked with the Progressive Labour Party to pass a motion deploring the granting of a McDonald's franchise to Sir John's Grape Bay Ltd.

That was followed by a motion of censure against Dr. Saul for his handling of the McDonald's issue. It was the first time a Premier had been censured by his peers.

Ms Smith added that if the advertisement was to have any force, it should have been signed by all the the entire UBP side of the House.

Dr. Saul said that he appeared in the advertisement as Premier and the other two were chosen because one is a woman Minister and the other a male backbencher.

But Ms Smith claimed: "Any explanation of why there was only three of them sounds like clutching at straws to me.'' Dr. Saul admitted: "There were three little hiccups -- but there were lots of good things done. We put the advert in to show people that Government is getting on with their business.

"There is far too much publicity given to negative things -- the people of Bermuda have a Government, an elected Government, I'm the Premier and we want to tell people the good news.'' But Ms Smith said: "People have heard the session themselves, read the newspapers, listened to the news.

"As much as the Premier might try to convince people that the previous session produced positive results for Government, I don't think that anyone who has been in Bermuda for the last session would believe him.'' The advertisement also draws attention to the Island's "healthy economy and falling crime rate.'' And it blamed the media for focusing on party differences and not on "the substance of what has been accomplished for the Country''.

The advertisement admits there are party and political differences within the UBP group -- but insists the membership is diverse and representative.

And it quotes the UBP constitution, which encourages "full and free'' discussions at all levels of the party.

It added: "We are focusing on these real achievements because they are the starting point for ongoing change, growth and success. We must not lose that focus.'' POLITICS HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY HOA