Dr. Ewart Brown is fighting to keep his Premiership after Progressive Labour Party MPs questioned his leadership at a surprise move at Wednesday night's caucus.

It's understood backbenchers Wayne Perinchief and Randy Horton, supported by Alex Scott, raised the issue but colleagues blocked any possible vote at the weekly caucus meeting of MPs and Senators.. It's also been claimed that the anti-Brown faction have threatened a no-confidence vote in Parliament after failing to get their way on Wednesday night.

Following a number of reports in the media yesterday, the PLP issued a statement last night saying the executive fully supports Dr. Brown, while party chairman David Burt hinted rebels could face disciplinary action.

At a press conference yesterday Premier Brown said of the rebellion:"I can't dismiss this situation.But I would just ask people to remember that so far it appears this is more personal than political.

"There are three people said to have been a part of this effort. And all three have something in common I either removed them from Cabinet or I defeated them in an election."The Premier then hurriedly left the podium before further questions could be asked.

Sources at Wednesday's caucus meeting said the rebellious MPs complained that canvassing had shown a growing number of constituents had lost faith in the leadership, but no specific reasons were cited.

It's thought any attempt to put up a motion was brushed aside with an agreement that it was for the whole caucus to discuss the leadership.

And some are claiming Dr. Brown promised he would stand aside if enough MPs told him his time was up when the issue was raised both to his surprise and that of some of the other attendees.

One MP told The Royal Gazette that a decision might be reached at next Wednesday's caucus meeting although some party stalwarts will argue the issue should go to a special delegates' conference.

Both Mr. Perinchief and Mr. Horton refused to comment yesterday while Mr. Scott could not be reached. One MP believes the Premier might have burned too many bridges to keep power.

The more conservative wing of the PLP, associated with the 'old guard' of Dame Jennifer Smith and Alex Scott, has largely been kept at arm's length by Dr. Brown while MPs and Senators who had backed him such as Wayne and Phil Perinchief, Dennis Lister and Randy Horton had been cast out of Ewart Brown's Cabinet.

However the fact that some in the old guard argued that the attempt to remove Premier Brown was unconstitutional could indicate the two anti-Brown wings, both radical and conservative, were not yet working together.

The PLP statement, under the headling 'Solid support for Party Leader', said:"We, the executive of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party wish to inform our members and the voting public that this executive fully supports the leadership of Premier Ewart Brown.

"There have been recent news reports that have indicated that there has been an attempt to remove our party leader. One should note that there is a constitutional process for the removal of party leader and that is only through a special delegates conference."

Mr. Burt said on a ZBM interview that he would recommend the PLP disciplinary committee looks at the actions of MPs who spoke out. A rough guess would indicate that out of 27 MPs and Senators around ten have nothing to gain by a continuation of Dr. Brown's Premiership while around eight in the group will be desperate for him to remain.

At play is the support of around nine figures who have supported Dr. Brown in the past but who are strong enough in their own right to either keep their Cabinet post or gain one if the leader changed.

One MP, who wished to remain anonymous, told this paper that Dr. Brown might have burned too many bridges to hang in with most of the backbench, with the exception of Zane DeSilva, keen for regime change.

The MP said:"But he's crafty, he might call someone up and offer m he has perhaps a week to try. But I don't know if even by a week a clear decision will be made."

Some MPs argued the PLPconstitution says the delegates must decide but the MPsaid:"The key thing is if the backbench goes against him and the Opposition don't support him he can't get anything through which was clearly seen with the gambling debate.

"At the end of the day if he doesn't have the support of the core group of backbenchers to govern would be very difficult."

Grass roots members are thought to be split on the leadership issue with blue collar areas said to be more likely to want a change. "There's a big disconnect in the party. He seems to hang with the rich and famous.

"There are questions about the commitment to economic empowerment m a lot of the big jobs are going to the guys who are established."

More often than not those firms were non-union, said the MP. Asked how the leadership fight would pan out the MP said: "Very few people are up-front so I wouldn't place bets on it either way."

And the MP said the backbench rebellions which led to Dr. Brown withdrawing his bill to allow gambling on cruise ships docked in Bermuda had been highly significant.

Backbencher Zane DeSilva said the gambling bill had not been that important and it could even be brought back.

"Leaders make decisions, as a business leader I have to make decisions like that every week.

"We have to run the country like we run a business," said Mr. DeSilva. "One of the decisions is to move people, shuffle people around for obvious reasons m if people get a little upset by that then so be it. If it wasn't Ewart Brown doing that it would be another leader as we have seen."

Many in the party say Dr. Brown had made it known that he would step down at the next scheduled leadership vote in October, 2010.

He gained his four-year term at a scheduled leadership vote in October 2006 where he successfully challenge Alex Scott after initially saying he would not run.

However PLP Renee Webb outed his leadership bid to the media and Dr. Brown resigned from Cabinet days before the vote.

Three years earlier Dr. Brown had been one of the main instigators in a coup against Premier Jennifer Smith which saw eleven of her 22 MPs rebel just hours after she had won the PLPa second term in office.

That leadership bid had also been kept quiet until the election was over.In May 2002 backbench MPs tried to force Jennifer Smith to step down as leader at a caucus meeting with Wayne Perinchief leading the charge. But the vote was tied 9-9 and the Premier survived.

Now the question is whether Dr. Brown's leadership can survive this latest backbench revolt.

One party stalwart told this paper. "There is no confidence in the man, he's desperately fighting to cling on."

He suggested Government would tone down its demands for repayment from the BIU affiliate, Union Asset Holdings for repayment of the $6.8 million bond. "He needs all the support, he will promise anything at this point."

But one highly placed source said the rebellion was doomed to failure and was led by bitter people who had not performed well in Government.