The “magnanimous” resignation of Premier Craig Cannonier will repair the Island’s reputation after the fiasco of ‘Jetgate’, according to former United Bermuda Party Minister Quinton Edness.

“This is a major step in correcting the One Bermuda Alliance’s internal ills and the people’s suspicions over a lack of transparency,” the elder statesman said last night of Mr Cannonier’s decision to step down.

“I don’t think it’s a final step,” Mr Edness added. “There is work to be done to unify Government and win back the confidence of the people of Bermuda.”

The year-long controversy over Mr Cannonier’s March, 2013 trip to Washington, DC with Attorney General Mark Pettingill and Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell had “the potential to do great harm to Bermuda”, he said.

“There were potential developers thinking of coming here to take on substantial investments, who would have been looking at this and thinking ‘Should I go there with this sort of thing going on?’ I think it was threatening to take a great deal of business off the country.”

Mr Edness said the “pussyfooting and internal and external fighting” over the trip had been going on for too long and had reached a “danger point”.

“I have to commend Craig Cannonier for having stepped down. It was a courageous thing. Very often, leaders have to be pushed very hard. But he apparently recognised this was best for the country, and he is to be commended for making the commitment to remain on the backbench and work where he can for the people.”

The confusion surrounding Jetgate was acknowledged yesterday by new Premier Michael Dunkley, who observed after his swearing-in that recent weeks had been “testing at times”, leaving some feeling that “we had lost some of our focus”.

Offering congratulations to the new Premier, Mr Edness called Mr Dunkley “a seasoned politician with a good administrative background”.

“He’s a people person. He ought to be feeling good in moving things forward, unifying Government and creating more confidence in the Government among the people of Bermuda.”

Mr Edness said he didn’t believe Mr Crockwell and Mr Pettingill should resign from office for accompanying Mr Cannonier to the meeting with developer Nathan Landow.

He told The Royal Gazette the two appeared to have been unaware of the $300,000 in campaign donations made to the OBA by Mr Landow and his associates.

However, he said the group had been “junior in their thinking” to accept a lift in Mr Landow’s private jet for the junket.

“They were rather silly, to take a trip in a private plane to talk to a businessman in the US. That’s something you shouldn’t do. It’s the Bermuda Government — if they wanted to talk to anybody about business they should have taken commercial flights instead of accepting the largesse of a private plane. It’s foolish and naive.”

Mr Edness said he took comfort in the OBA’s ongoing investigation of the donation. Party chairman Thad Hollis has pledged a full public statement of its findings.

Of Mr Cannonier, who turned 51 on Saturday, Mr Edness said: “He’s young, and you never know what’s going to happen down the road with the vagaries and ups and downs of politics.

“There is probably going to be another place for Craig Cannonier somewhere in the future.”