Premier-designate Alex Scott told Progressive Labour Party delegates last night he did not want to be party leader or Premier but would take on that responsibility in the name of party unity and for the good of the Country.

In a five minute address towards the end of the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Mr. Scott sprinted up to the podium with a few notes and brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.

"After that, you wouldn't have known that the last few days of disunity had happened," he told The Royal Gazette. "I'm a reluctant leader but in the short term we have to repair the damage done in the last few days and go on to give the electorate the promise our platform suggests."

Asked to describe his speech, he said: "I pointed out that now is the time for all the members to come to the aid of our great party and I pointed out that this was the party of great leaders like L. Frederick Wade, Dame Lois, Jennifer Smith and David Allen. I wanted to evoke the history and the tradition that was involved.

He continued: "It saddened me to be standing before them being part of the process to be considered leader. I said I didn't wish to be leader and that I hadn't sought that cup but I wasn't going to shirk that responsibility.

"I had been loyal to the party since 1972. I was loyal to the party first and to each consequential leader that followed. However, now I saw my duty to bring both party and parliamentarians together and I think my candidacy was based on the fact that I can work with all sectors. Now it was up to me to bring them all together."

At that point, Mr. Scott said he waved out into the crowd and said: "`I can't do it without you.' It hit a responsive chord with the crowd and I got a standing ovation. You had to be there this evening. All of the parliamentarians erupted in support of myself. After that, Dr. Brown did an extraordinary gesture. In the name of unity, he yielded to me as Premier."

He added: "In the last few days, the (dissident) parliamentarians had gotten my attention and we now feel we are of one accord and going forward. The PLP will go from strength to strength from now on."

And Mr. Scott concluded: "A championship team is not one that keeps on winning but one that can suffer defeat and rise from the ashes again. We have had some setbacks over the last few days and we are sorry for the interruption. But we are back now and Bermuda will get the government that it deserves."