Parliamentary Registrar Sabrina Phillips is threatening legal action against UBP MP Trevor Moniz for alleging that her job was obtained through "grace and favour".

And Premier Jennifer Smith has called on Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons to publicly disassociate himself from Mr. Moniz's comments, which she says are "irresponsible at best, libellous at worst".

"I trust that common sense will prevail," the Premier said. "(And) that the Opposition Leader will take this opportunity to distance himself from these most outrageous comments."

"Mr. Moniz made it perfectly clear that he was speaking personally and not on behalf of the United Bermuda Party," was Dr. Gibbons' response last night.

Mr. Moniz yesterday insisted there was enough circumstantial evidence, including the fact that she has not conducted a wholesale re-registration of voters, to warrant a closer look at Mrs. Phillips' appointment.

He also insisted that the process which led to Mrs. Phillips getting the job should be clearly explained.

"All I'm trying to do is introduce the sunshine of public scrutiny. I thought that was my job, that's all. I thought people would welcome that. When you promise the sunshine of public scrutiny, by God you better be willing to live by it." he said.

"My only unfounded comment was that it wasn't advertised properly. And it was."

Mr. Moniz had engaged in an "ill conceived campaign to attempt to cast the electoral process and its administrative staff into disrepute" which "is not only harmful to the entire community but casts aspersions on his Excellency, the Governor himself", the Premier's statement said.

She called on Mr. Moniz to apologise to the Parliamentary Registrar, the Head of the Civil Service, the Secretary to the Cabinet, the Public Service Commission and the Governor.

"His comments cast aspersions on each of these bodies and it is an outrage that the Leader of the Opposition has remained silent throughout. In this case I would hope that his silence is not acquiescence."

Last week Mr. Moniz alleged that as a daughter of a "prominent PLP supporter" Mrs. Phillips was the Premier's preferred choice for the post, that the job was not advertised and that she was "handpicked" by the Premier.

Mrs. Phillips rejected the allegations as "completely unfounded", saying she went through an exhaustive selection process, which included a management assessment test and interviews, along with over 20 other candidates after the job was advertised in this newspaper in August 2001.

A Bermuda Public Service Union statement backed her account of the selection process, saying it was done properly and there were no discussions about her application between Mrs. Phillips and anyone in the political arena. The statement also criticised Mr. Moniz for discrediting Bermudian civil servants.

In her own statement, Mrs. Phillips added: "The Parliamentary Registrar is required to be impartial and unbiased, and Mr. Moniz's allegations to the contrary are derogatory and demeaning to my professional integrity and imply that I would not have been successful in obtaining this position had it not been for the colour of my skin and/or his belief as to my political affiliation.

"My record speaks for itself."

Asked if she was demanding an apology from Mr. Moniz, she said "absolutely", and said she would pursue legal action if she does not get a public apology.

She said that she first met the Premier when she gave a presentation on the Boundaries Commission report late last year in St. George's. She had then been working as Parliamentary Registrar for about ten months.

And she denied her job was a "grace and favour" appointment, saying she took a 25 percent salary cut when she moved from the private sector.

Yesterday Mr. Moniz said that while he may have been wrong about the post being advertised externally, he still thought there was something fishy about the selection process and said that his information was that the job was not advertised internally and her appointment annoyed a number of civil servants.

"Whether she knows that or not, my information is she was the handpicked candidate," Mr. Moniz said.

Mrs. Phillips acknowledged being the daughter of Eugene Blakeney, a former PLP MP.

"And I'm very proud of his accomplishment," she said. "However my political views cannot be ascertained based on his. They cannot and should not be ascertained on that basis. My personal view is that I'm a civil servant and no civil servant should be used as a political football."

Mr. Moniz said the fact that she is Mr. Blakeney's daughter and opposes a wholesale re-registration of voters, which is also the Government's position, is enough to sound warning bells.

The United Bermuda Party has consistently maintained that the Voters List is inaccurate and that there should be a wholesale re-registration of voters before the Island goes to the polls under a new electoral system.

Yesterday Mr. Moniz also questioned Mrs. Phillips' competence, saying the draft voters' list which was promised for last week has not yet materialised.

Asked if he was willing to apologise for his remarks, Mr. Moniz said: "I need to hear what she has to say."

He added: "I may be wrong about it not being advertised externally. But I'm told it wasn't advertised internally and civil servants are very upset about it. What we do know is that the draft register has not arrived. And what we do know is that for some odd reason the Parliamentary Registrar is not doing a re-registration."

Mrs. Phillips said she had no idea whether the job was advertised internally. But she said as far as she knows only a "handful" of Government jobs are advertised internally.

And she dismissed as a "poor excuse" Mr. Moniz's view that the fact that her office has not done a re-registration supports his suspicions.

"It's really not my decision whether or not we do a re-registration. I follow the Parliamentary Registration Act," she said. "I report to the Governor and it's not the Parliamentary Registrar's decision as to whether or not a re-registration is done. Government House has spoken on this and that's no reason to malign my character. That's a poor excuse."

The voters' list has bee delayed by problems at the printers and yesterday's Island-wide Internet shutdown, but it should be in post offices today.

Mrs. Phillips started work as Parliamentary Registrar in February 2002, after a stint as e-commerce company Promisant's director of operations and technology. Prior to that she was a vice president at the Bank of Butterfield. She earned a business degree from New Hampshire College.