it loses.

Opposition leader Mr. Frederick Wade said he was convinced his party would grab power for the first time on October 5.

But even if it failed, it would still overhaul its record 18 seats in the 1980 election, he said.

"We can't lose the election. Whatever the result we will be in an improved position.'' Mr. Wade spoke of the confidence surging through his party as it prepared for polling day. The campaign was going well and had been organised superbly, he said.

He added the challenge now lay with getting people to go to the polling booths.

Mr. Wade said the aura of United Bermuda Party invincibility in handling the economy had been shattered by the recession.

He believed the PLP would capitalise on a swathe of white voters disabused of the notion only the UBP could handle the economy.

Mr. Wade said a PLP victory would destroy white people's fears about joining the Opposition. And it would free those blacks seduced by the UBP.

"There will be a black and white emancipation,'' asserted Mr. Wade, who has no plans to give up his leadership.

Mr. Wade said Bermudians no longer believed the "bogeymen'' conjured up each election by the UBP about the prospect of a PLP victory.

These included scares about income tax, Independence, economic mismanagement, frightening away international companies, and chasing expatriates out of the Island. Q. Let's assume the PLP sweep to victory on October 5. Who will be in your Cabinet? A. It would be inappropriate for me to give you the names of the PLP Cabinet because that's a matter which must be dealt with after the election. The person you want to be in that Cabinet might not get elected. It's as simple as that. You have to wait until the result is in.

Q. Your own Legislative Affairs critic, Mr. Julian Hall, said this week that your party's image as a "black party'' must change. Why has there been no significant progress within the party on this crucial electoral factor since the last election? A. The question does not quote Mr. Hall fully. Mr. Hall said the image had not been earned, and that it had been imposed by cynical UBP administrations and the media. The PLP has no programme or campaign to attract voters on the basis of race. We hope people in the community will support the party, even as members or supporters, based on our policies and programmes. We have never deliberately embarked on a campaign of using race. Further, it is a fact across the world that white people just don't join black dominated institutions. It's not unique to Bermuda. Integration has happened in Bermuda because black people have made the effort. Warwick Academy has now become a major black institution, for example, and blacks have joined the UBP. White people have been afraid to join the PLP because they fear political, economic and social ostracisation from the white community. What we have seen is we get one white Bermudian every decade who is fearless enough to join us. In the '60s there was Dr. Barbara Ball, '70s David Allen, '80s Cheryl Pooley, and '90s Danny Farias. What we do know is that many whites will vote for us this time. A PLP victory will remove a lot of the fear. There will be a black and white emancipation.

Q. In recent weeks your candidates have made contradictory statements about policy. First, Mr. Philip Perinchief said the party was considering a tax on income. We have been reliably informed our reporter did not misquote him, contrary to your subsequent statement on the issue. What is the true story? A. We accept that our story is the true story. Mr. Perinchief told me he had been misquoted. We have no committee in the PLP studying income tax. And our policy is for a review of the system. We have given a guarantee that we won't have income tax even in that review. Firstly, it is our belief we can do what we have to do without income tax, and secondly Bermudians don't want income tax. Every election bogeymen appear in several forms for us. The first is the income tax scare, and the second the Independence scare. The third is the claim we are unable to run the economy, the fourth that international companies will run away, and the fifth that we will put all expats on boats and chase them out of the Island. Those are the major bogeymen. It's always the establishment that puts them out.

Q. Mr. Terry Lister, your candidate for Southampton West and campaign co-chairman, has said your party policy is to bring expatriates into the country. He mentioned a target for the year 2000 of 8,000 work permits. Your party has long stood for restricting the number of work permits. Would you please clarify the policy? A. What Mr. Lister said was that our policy of attracting international business is going to be so successful that we will employ all the Bermudians that are qualified and we will still need some 8,000 work permits. That was about the same number before the recession. We hope to have more Bermudians employed in the industry. We will have Bermudianisation in place and still have foreign workers to service the industry. During our visits to international businesses we got a mixed reaction. Most said they were pleased we were making the effort and had the chance to meet us face to face.

Q. Why hasn't there been the restrictions on work permits which you would like? A. Because it costs money to train. We want companies to train Bermudians.

There are some, like Belco and Telco, who have done this. Managers also believe they can get expats to work longer hours for less pay.

Q. You said last week that the PLP Government had never supported a Bermuda Government airline. But your tourism spokesman has consistently called for a Bermuda Airline. What's the difference? Also, why is their no mention of a national airline in your campaign platform? A. Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen has never supported a Bermuda Government-owned and operated airline. A Bermuda Airline, which he does support, can be likened to the Bank of Bermuda. That is not a Government bank but still has the name Bermuda. The airline would be a private enterprise.

There is no particular reason it's not in the platform. Not everything is there. It's not a priority for us. Q. A campaign directive was released last Monday stating that your candidates could not speak to the Press on policy matters except through written statements. You've said that this measure was taken to prevent the media misquoting candidates. Are they now allowed to speak on policy since your introduction of the party platform on Monday? If not, does it not indicate lack of confidence in their ability to speak clearly on the issues? A. The PLP's Constitution requires that Shadow Ministers enunciate and release party policy and nobody else. During the pre-election campaign period I allowed some leeway for members who are not Shadow Cabinet Ministers to speak on matters of policy once they have the concurrence of the relevant Shadow Minister. In the election campaign, however, where every word, every nuance is measured as a policy you will be held to, you have to be able to protect, support and defend what you say. Therefore we feel the Shadow Minister is the one to do that. This was decided before the Perinchief incident. In an election campaign we always try and control very closely what is said and done. Even though the platform is out, policy statements still have to be given in writing.

Q. You have repeatedly mentioned that gerrymandered electoral districts have inhibited your ability to win elections. But the PLP has never won more than 50 percent of the popular vote. Are you saying that with altered "more democratic'' electoral districts you could win election victory without 50 percent of the vote? A. The UBP won the last election with less than 50 percent of the vote. There was a big dispute about that. We say it was 49 percent, some said it was 51 percent. It's hard to work out the figure with all these dual districts. But it proves it is possible to win the election with a minority of the popular vote. Our platform calls for us to have single seat electoral constituencies.

Q. There have been rumours that your caucus is not united. Please comment.

A. The PLP has the most united caucus of all the political parties. I have never had it so good. I am very lucky in that regard. The UBP is riddled with disagreements over the cruise ship question, the task forces, and the broadcasting regulations. Our party is working well together, and I am very satisfied. I don't know where these rumours come from. I have never heard of them. I am satisfied I have the most united caucus for a long time.

Q. Your party Constitution says that the party leader must face a vote of confidence within 24 hours of a national election. In the event your party loses the election on Tuesday, do you think such a vote is too early.

A. This is not true. Under our Constitution we elect officers every two years, and I am an officer of the PLP. What we do have after the election is the election of senators.

Q. What is your state of health? Does it have any bearing on your leadership, or political future? A. Sir John Swan started this bogeyman that I am not well, and that there is some question of my leadership. He started talking about my health as an election issue. He tried, but hasn't had much success. He had me on an air-ambulance going to London about six weeks ago. Some reporter rang my wife to ask her if it was true. It was nonsense, of course. It's a campaign tactic started by Sir John Swan. I have had a heart condition. I've had it for about 15 years. I am, therefore, mindful of that and take care of myself and my darling wife makes sure I eat properly, exercise correctly, and don't drink or smoke. Every year I go to my hospital to have a complete check-up, and I see my doctor here every three months or so. I am as healthy as a horse, much to the Premier's disappointment.

Q. Have you costed your policies? If yes, what will they cost, and where will the money come from? If no, why not, and doesn't the public have a right to know? A. My answer is to tell Sir John Swan to publish the costing of the UBP platform and have him produce the taxes he plans to implement to raise the money to pay for those programmes. We have had from him a tax holiday for two budgets. He should be asked whether there will be massive tax increases after the next election. We have no way of accurately costing our policies because we don't have access to the Government machinery. All we can do is make estimates. For example, we feel we can abolish the 10 cent bus ride for seniors and make it free. Government knows how much that will cost Government, because it has access to records. We can't publish costs. To do that would be folly. We have made estimates, but it would be wrong to publish them. We are not stupid. We wouldn't put forward anything impossible. Remember, our programme is not a one-year programme. Our platform is for the period of our administration.

Q. The competence of the PLP to run the Country has long been questioned. How can you address this? A. It's one of the bogeymen the UBP pulls out. A PLP Government will have the same service from the civil servants who serve the UBP. The politicians provide the policy and the civil servants execute that policy. Take education.

It doesn't require the Minister to be an expert in education. You hire the experts from the top. You hope the Minister has some general knowledge, some ability, some understanding and some foresight and knows the party's policy in that area to develop programmes.

Q. How can you profess to be even-handed in labour relations when your team seems to be so pro-labour, with Ottiwell Simmons, Eugene Blakeney, and Milton Scott all representing labour organisations? A. We are named the Progressive Labour Party. We are a labour party and we make no apology for that. The Democratic party in America is much the same as ours. We will govern for the Country and we certainly have our basis in labour. Our support comes from there. It doesn't mean we are anti-management.

Our main support comes from the working class, but we also have people who call themselves middle class. We have a very broad cross-section of candidates. Among our candidates are a doctor, lawyer, journalist, dentist, technician, social worker, businessmen and a retired schoolteacher. We have a nice mixture in our group. People should understand too the BIU is a very proud, free, independent, trade union which guards its freedom very jealously.

Q. What is new in your platform? How does it differ from previous platforms? What is in it which will sway voters' minds this time, when it has failed to do so before? A. Sir John Swan said 33 policies were already being acted on by Government, 11 were in the UBP's blueprint and the others were in the PLP's platform for 1989. I want him to prove it. I don't believe him. This time I think the electorate has a realisation that nobody has a monopoly of managing our economy. The UBP has demonstrated that they too have failed by the fact we have a recession they haven't handled very well. Despite Dr. Saul's comments, there are people who are unemployed, who are working casually, who are hustling, who will never find jobs they had before. That is a new experience for them. Bermuda has never been faced with a UBP Government which did not take care of its financial needs. They have never taken care of social needs.

That was one of the PLP's strengths. We had the interest in social needs, but the UBP said if Bermudians gave us the Country we would destroy it. People don't believe that anymore. People are seeing the UBP destroy it. That's the one thing that people understand, especially the white community. They were trained and raised to believe that if you were white you vote for the UBP.

They were the ones who managed the economy best. But they discovered that was not true.

Q. What would be the political repercussions for the PLP if it lost? How damaging would it be to the party, and what bearing would it have on your leadership? A. The PLP can't lose the election in the sense that whatever the outcome is going to be, it's going to be an improvement in our current position. And I think the party will be a lot stronger after the election. We are going to be the Government in my view. If we are not the Government we are going to be stronger than we are now. We will be stronger than in 1980 when we had 18 seats. We will do better than that. I really haven't thought of my leadership.

I think it will be left to me. I think people value my leadership. I think people are satisfied with my leadership. It hasn't really been discussed. I don't worry about it. We have so many people in the PLP who could fill my shoes.

MR. FREDERICK WADE -- `A PLP victory will remove a lot of the fear. There will be a black and white emancipation.' OCTOBER 1993 ELECTION