into the ring in two looming by-elections.

The recent resignations of Health Minister Dr. Clarence Terceira and controversial former Progressive Labour Party MP Trevor Woolridge means voters will have to go to the polls in the Pembroke West and Hamilton East constituencies.

The by-elections, which must be held in the next six weeks, are seen as an appetiser before the main General Election to be held later in the year.

And while the two main parties are relishing the prospect of another political scrap, NLP chairman Charles Jeffers last night said his party had not yet made a commitment to standing in either constituency.

"We will be having a meeting tomorrow night and we will be discussing both by-elections'' he said.

"At this point we are not prepared to say what the situation is. Whether we will make a final decision tomorrow I can't say. I have my own views on what we should do but there will have to be a consensus. That could mean a yes or a no or it might mean that we wait another week to see what we can drum up in terms of support.

"We do realise that we don't have a lot of time because the by-elections have to be called within six weeks.

"The problem we have is that we are talking about two big constituencies.

Pembroke West has about 2,000 constituents and Hamilton East has about 1,700 or 1,800.

"I don't think we will have a problem with getting suitable candidates but the problem is these elections will probably be called on the same day and it takes a lot of time and effort and people power to contest a by-election.

"This year is very different because we know we will be having a General Election and it's a matter of whether we want to spend time contesting by-elections when we have a General Election coming up.

"In Bermuda, elections are won or lost on the doorstep. We feel we made mistakes at the last Pembroke West by-election and if we are going to put candidates forward this time its important that we get a good showing. Winning is the ultimate but we can't afford to have a bad showing like we did in Pembroke West. We have a lot to consider.'' NLP candidate Graeme Outerbridge polled just 34 votes or 3.2 percent of all votes cast in the last Pembroke West by-election, in which Erwin Adderley held the seat for the UBP.

But the Island's third party would appear to have a stronger chance in Hamilton East, where former party leader represented the party from 1985 until 1993. He previously held the seat for the PLP.

In the 1993 election he cme fourth out of six candidates with ten percent of the vote, having topped the poll in 1989.

Mr. Jeffers said of the run-up to the general election: "The view of the NLP is that Premier Gordon and her Government will do what they feel they must do to win the coming General Election.

"The record shows that the UBP is a government of reaction. When someone makes a noise there are some stirrings, but then the problem just fades away.

"For example, we still don't have a concrete date for when the Halfway House scheme is going to happen.

"The problem of long term residents has been simmering for years and this Government is wasting time and money on papers and discussions. If they feel an issue is a hot potato they make a lot of noises but nothing happens. They will simply wait until after the next election before they make a final decision.

"The Premier states that there will be more efforts similar to Operation Cleansweep to deal with drugs. Why does she not refer to earlier Government promises to go after the big boys in the drug trade?''