Much of Craig Cannonier’s first day as Premier of Bermuda was spent selecting his Cabinet. But keeping to his campaign promise of having a member of the Opposition benches serve in that Cabinet may prove easier said than done.It is almost certain that a Cabinet will be sworn in this afternoon — the Premier said yesterday that he hoped to have selected his Cabinet within a day.But Premier Cannonier is likely to say that a Progressive Labour Party MP was invited to join his Cabinet, but the invitation was rejected.In theory there is no reason why an Opposition party MP cannot be a member of Cabinet. The Bermuda Constitution provides that the Governor appoints the Ministers on the advice of the Premier.It does not require that the Ministers be from the governing party.But the idea is practically unworkable under Bermuda’s Westminster system and the current political dynamics.Few from the One Bermuda Alliance would admit it on the record last night. But there is a sentiment that the Premier may have been a bit naive.The thought of having a member of the Opposition in the Cabinet could cause dissension within the ranks of both parties.Trust is a key issue with a major concern being whether a PLP Cabinet Minister would keep the confidences of an OBA cabinet.Effectively, the PLP Minister may have to take a leave of absence from his or her own party — weakening their side strategically.And with only a limited amount of Cabinet posts to go around — the Premier is reported to prefer a Cabinet of ten or 11 members, some OBA MPs may not take too kindly to being left out to make room for a PLP MP.The Constitution mandates that at least one Senator, but no more than two, must be in the Cabinet.It is understood that several PLP MPs were approached yesterday and that the Premier’s personal preference was to invite former Attorney General Kim Wilson into the Cabinet.Ms Wilson could not be reached for comment last night.Ms Wilson is considered by the OBA as a moderate, according to a source. Another advantage is her experience — until Monday she was serving a second stint as Attorney General and had already served as Economy Trade and Industry Minister.Ms Wilson would also have helped fill a gender gap on the OBA team as only two of the governing party’s female MPs have prior experience in the House of Assembly.“The reality is that it would be very difficult to work as anyone who joins the Cabinet from an opposition party has for all intents and purposes crossed the floor to the other party,” said PLP MP Walton Brown. Ministers are bound by collective responsibility and have to support the government position.“They are no longer considered to be under the whip of the party, they would no longer be considered to be part of the caucus.”Mr Brown added that there is a distinction between someone who decides that they could no longer be a member of the party and someone who accepts an invitation to join the Cabinet of an opposing party four days after a general election.Another PLP insider, who did not want to be named, said any MP who accepted an offer to sit in the OBA Cabinet would be sending the wrong message to the PLP’s support base — many of whom had already expressed dissatisfaction with the party by not participating in the general election.But some see it differently. An offer to sit in the Cabinet should be jumped at because the party would then have inside information as no one would reasonably expect a PLP member not to talk with the party’s caucus.“It would be crazy not to take it,” said the Opposition insider.Mr Cannonier first promised that he would invite an opposition member to sit in Cabinet in the Reply to the Throne Speech — his maiden speech to the House of Assembly — in November 2011, saying his party would transform the way politics is practised from confrontation to collaboration.Mr Brown said that while Mr Cannonier’s intentions might be noble, he was choosing the wrong mechanism. Bipartisan select committees would be the ideal vehicle to achieve such collaboration, he said.But the Westminster system is meant to deliver the best legislative outcomes through partisan competition, he said.