United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan says colleague Wayne Furbert is wrong to claim the party will never again win an election.

Yesterday former leader Mr. Furbert said the UBP needed to disband and make way for something more able to defeat the Progressive Labour Party.

But he said some UBP MPs were too worried about protecting political legacies rather than doing what was right for the country.

Talk of forming a new group sprang up after the election but the reform group within the UBP lacked the numbers to replace the UBP as an official Opposition.

Insiders in the reform group fear a snap election could hand even more power to Ewart Brown if MPs took a gamble and broke away from the UBP.

MPs are haunted by the fate which befell the National Liberal Party which split from the PLP in the 1980s and gifted the governing UBP even more seats because the Opposition was split.

Yesterday Mr. Swan hosted a press conference to refute Mr. Furbert's claims that the UBP was doomed.

He said: "We are not the first political party to have lost three elections in a row, and we are certainly not without the means and commitment to do something about it.

"The 2007 election saw nearly one in every two voters support the United Bermuda Party. Obviously we had to get a significant amount of support from all sectors of Bermuda to achieve that result.

"I am very disappointed with what Wayne had to say today because it detracts from the good things the party stands for and casts doubt on the programme of change that the party has embarked on.

"I recognise that the party has had difficult challenges over the past two years and that Wayne has been in the midst of it all. This party has had leadership changes, and there remains pain from those experiences.

"The commitment to change in the party is across the board and you will hear more about our programme in the weeks and months to come because we intend to take the public with us."

Asked if the party was split, Mr. Swan said everyone within it was looking for change.

He would not state what change was being considered but said a committee had been set up to look at that while a constitutional committee has also been created. There was time to examine the options since no election was due argued Mr. Swan.

Deputy leader Cole Simons said the reform group of MPs were being encouraged to come forward with ideas.

"We have allowed them to do a study and bring it back. So we are embracing them. We are not saying 'Oh no, that is too out there for us', we are embracing them and saying all options are on the table."

Former UBP candidate Sean Pitcher said everything was being looked at including how branches were structured and how candidates and leaders were chosen. The party is also said to be working on plans to court young people.

Former party chairman Shawn Crockwell said Mr. Furbert had a sense of urgency but the party was committed to seeing if change could work under the current structure.

"I don't begrudge Wayne for expressing his views but I was surprised to see he considers joining the PLP as an option. That is certainly not an option in my mind."

Mr. Crockwell said he didn't want to cause any unnecessary disquiet in the community which had become spectators to a gargantuan power battle between the PLP and the UBP.

He said key issues to the public were being left by the wayside as the parties fought over history and rhetoric. "This is probably why Wayne is saying what he's saying. They are now so consumed with the legacy that people are not being served."

But Mr. Crockwell said people deserved orderly change.

"As we go about change we need to do so in a way we continue to be an effective opposition and ensure out of change there isn't chaos."

Mr. Crockwell said the party preferred to deal with its issues internally.

Asked if Mr. Furbert had done the right thing by opening up the debate so the public could be involved, Mr. Crockwell said: "Everything comes down to perception and personal opinion. In Wayne's mind it is the best way, to force the UBP to address it.

"Contrary to what some might think I know this is not sour grapes, I know in Wayne's heart he wants to leave the country better than he found it."

But Mr. Crockwell said the party needed time to change, to overcome its image problems. Multiple meetings have been held and a committee formed to work out what had to be done.

"If we then decide it's not going to be effective then we discuss the potential of disbanding. But what's happened is we have gone to the more radical solution before we have explored everything else. There should be a timeline.

"Wayne, without the exploration, has come to the conclusion that those options are not going to work and the only thing to do for the benefit of the country is for the United Bermuda Party to disband."

Probed on how long the reformation project could take, Mr. Crockwell said: "I told the new chairman Michael Fahy, who is very committed to change, that I would like to give him at least the balance of 2008 and let's see what we can come up with."

"I agree the country cannot afford to have an election like we had last year, we are becoming more polarised on racial lines, there's a tension in the community that I have never experienced before and I certainly don't want to leave that to my children and future generations.

"I agree if something evolves and we lose one or two elections but at least we remove this negative focus on race I will be happy."

He said at least a year was needed to see if progress could be made in making the party more attractive.

Mr. Furbert said little could be done to change the party but Mr. Crockwell would not say what was planned.

"There are a few interesting ideas on the table. We can't be perceived as a white elitist party with black members."

However, he conceded the candidates were primarily black but the wider membership and voting base was primarily white.