candidates will be standing for election in the key seats of St. George's North and South.

And the announcement could signal the end of the political career of party stalwart Jimmy Williams.

Mr. Williams, MP for St. George's North, has been ill for several weeks and was too sick to attend the opening session of Parliament last Friday.

But his resignation could solve an awkward conundrum for the Opposition. The party was thrown into chaos by the shock defection by Government minister and St. George's South favourite Grace Bell to the Opposition benches last week.

And party chiefs were plunged into a frantic game of musical chairs as they decided which candidates should stand in several key must-win seats.

Although no formal announcement had been made, The Royal Gazette understands that two candidates, Arthur Pitcher and the Rev. Larry Lowe, had already been pencilled in to fight for the St. George's South seat at the next election.

Mr. Pitcher narrowly missed out on becoming one of the two constituency MPs at the last General Election when he polled just 41 votes fewer than second placed Mrs. Bell.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith is known to be a strong supporter of both Mr.

Pitcher and Rev. Lowe. At a rally in the constituency last year she praised Mr. Pitcher's election performance and said that both men were capable of transforming the constituency from a UBP stronghold to a PLP seat.

With Mrs. Bell's defection to the PLP ranks, the party was faced with the problem of having three candidates to stand for the two vacancies.

But if Mr. Williams' resignation is confirmed it would clear the way for one of the two rookies to stand as the running mate of Ms Smith in St. George's North.

Last night a PLP spokesman said that news of Mr. Williams' retirement was completely speculative and would only serve to knock back his recovery.

But a source close to the PLP did reveal that the veteran MP could be bowing out of the political arena.

Last night officials from both political parties were keeping their cards close to their chests over who exactly will be standing for election in the constituencies later this year.

PLP campaign manager Calvin Smith would only confirm that four more candidates would be officially announced later this afternoon.

When asked if those named would be the four prospective St. George's MPs he said: "Many things will be revealed tomorrow afternoon.'' "We are still considering how Grace Bell's defection is going to impact upon us but, if it's a problem at all it's only a problem of having too many riches.'' Ms Smith also refused to be drawn on who had been selected to represent the party.

But she did describe Mrs. Bell's volte-face as courageous and historic and said it showed her "commitment to the PLP's struggle to put an end to the innumerable wrongs to which the majority of Bermudians are still subjected''.

A UBP insider confirmed that the party has been "surprised'' by Mrs. Bell's decision to quit Government.

Last night the source told The Royal Gazette that, while no decision had been made as to who will fight for the seat, there were still plenty of candidates to choose from.

"You have to understand that, up until last Friday, Mrs. Bell was a member of the UBP and her defection was somewhat of a surprise so we haven't been able to select a replacement,'' the source said.

"But I am sure we won't have a problem selecting a suitable candidate.'' And party chairman Ronald Viera, hinting that an election could be just around the corner, said that a candidate would have to be selected soon.

"We are still going through the process of selecting a candidate but we will have to get someone on the ground pretty quickly to get them canvassing,'' he said.

Page 5: Dill, Smith in war of words