The 11 rebel Progressive Labour Party MPs said last night that all they wanted was the opportunity under the Bermuda Constitution to exercise their right as MPs to choose the Premier.

Government whip Ottiwell Simmons emerged from secret talks with the rebel group to issue a terse statement outlining the rebel position.

And he did not rule out the possibility that the rebels, who are calling themselves the Progressive Parliamentary Group of the PLP, would vote for Ms Smith as Premier, saying they just wanted to have the chance to vote as MPs for their parliamentary leader.

"On this day, after our hard-fought victory in yesterday's general election, we, as members of the Progressive Labour Party Parliamentary Group, are entitled to meet and elect a leader who will become Premier upon appointment by the Governor," said Mr. Simmons.

"In accordance with the Bermuda Constitution, we have invited, through the Honourable Jennifer Smith, all of our Progressive Labour Party Parliamentarians to meet and elect a leader. Thus far, we have been unsuccessful."

The 11 newly elected MPs, including five key Cabinet Ministers, refused to attend Alaska Hall for celebrations on Thursday night and instead held a crunch, secret meeting to discuss the future leadership of Government.

The rebel MPs are Labour Minister Terry Lister, Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown, Environment Minister Dennis Lister, Health Minister Nelson Bascome, Community Affairs Minister Randolph Horton, and backbenchers Derrick Burgess, Walter Lister, Wayne Perinchief, George Scott, Dale Butler and Mr. Simmons.

On Thursday, they asked for a meeting of each of the 22 PLP members, so they could determine by ballot who would be the next Premier, but their request was turned down.

Instead the Premier chose to remain at Alaska Hall with her party faithful after the count was finished. And yesterday, surrounded by her loyal colleagues, she announced her new Cabinet in a defiant stand against the dissidents - a Cabinet which is still not complete and is noticeably devoid of any of the rebels, some of whom she said had turned down her invitation to serve.

Yesterday, the break-away group, who are calling themselves the Progressive Parliamentary Group of the Progressive Labour Party, were locked in talks again as the rift between them and the Premier widened and became very public.

While a bullish Ms Smith called a delegates meeting at Devonshire Rec last night to discuss the issue of leadership, members of the resistance chose instead to stay away, claiming that because many of the branch delegates were not yet in place after the boundary changes, it was "cause for concern".

Mr. Simmons added: "It's our position that tonight's meeting of the PLP delegates called by the party leader, at a time when most of the 36 branches do not have delegates in place, is a cause for concern.

"We are fully aware that such a meeting can only serve to elect a party leader, not a Premier. That position is, according to the Bermuda Constitution, the responsibility of the elected members of the House of Assembly. "We have taken this difficult step in the interests of all Bermuda and trust that this matter will be resolved in an expeditious manner.

"We reaffirm our loyalty to the Government and the people of this country. We stand firm in this commitment." Under the Constitution, the Governor must only appoint someone to the position of Premier if he is sure that they command the support of the majority of elected members in the House, which under the new system would now stand at at least 19 members. If the PLP fails to arrange within the Party who is to be put forward as the new Premier, with sufficient proof of support, then the Governor is free to appoint someone himself - provided he believes they have support from a majority of MPs.

However, if no front runner emerges, then the Governor could demand that a General Election be held again - something the Opposition United Bermuda Party would relish, having come so close this time around, but something a divided PLP would almost certainly wish to avoid.

Alternatively, the rebel group could decide to put their disagreements to one side, support Ms Smith and return to the party ranks in order to save Government's face. When asked last night how far the resistance group would be prepared to go, Mr. Simmons implied that a second General Election was highly unlikely, and said he believed the matter would be amicably brought to a close.

He said: "I do not anticipate it not being resolved. I think everybody in the Progressive Labour Party Parliamentary Group is mature enough to dialogue and to simply have a meeting together and determine who would be our leader, as it is set out in the national Constitution.

"We are elected Members of Parliament and I am sure everybody who is elected to Parliament will be attending Parliament.

"We will be continuing to simply try to get a meeting of all the Parliamentary members and we are going to continue to pursue that. And I have no doubt that we will.

"We will all agree."

When asked what the rebel group had thought about the new Cabinet positions announced yesterday, Mr. Simmons said: "Personally, I have not fully digested that yet."

He said the group had not been in contact with the Premier yesterday.