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Opposition Leader Marc Bean has called for a vote of no confidence in the Government after a series of allegations were made against Premier Craig Cannonier.

This comes after a series of claims and counter-claims, some of which were made in the House of Assembly on Friday.

The debate has since migrated to social media and among the latest claims, all of which are unproven and unconfirmed:

It was alleged that an IT contract was offered to PLP MP David Burt if he struck a deal with the OBA to coerce other PLP MPs to vote agree with the OBA on no referendum for the gambling;

The Opposition Leader claimed that an OBA MP tried to tape record a conversation with him;

It is claimed that Craig Cannonier's business partner was with the Premier, Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell and Attorney General Mark Pettingill on the free, private plane trip,  an episode that has since become known as 'Jetgate',  to meet with a potential hotel developer for Bermuda.

Marc Bean spoke in the House on Friday about discussions he had with Premier Cannonier last September on the subject of on-island gaming, and made some eye-opening allegations.

The written version of his speech reads:
"During these discussions, four main points became the focus of our attention
1) The Premier's various business holdings were in severe financial difficulty, and despite his ties to the business community, he had been unable to secure financial relief.

2) The Premier's high level of distrust with the members of his team and in particular, those OBA colleagues who were drawn from the ranks of the UBP.

3) I proposed the formation of a coalition government of which one sitting OBA MP had indicated a desire to join, with others showing interest. I will not reveal the name of these members as a mark of respect for our private conversations. This proposal of a coalition between disaffected OBA MPs and the PLP was made in an effort to allow our Premier to break free of the forces that were, in his mind, restricting and preventing him from making real progress for Bermudians. This offer was declined.

4) In rejecting our offer of a Coalition Government, The Premier revealed that there is a developer who is willing to pay him and his two cabinet colleagues (the Learned Minister of Tourism and AG) upfront for a casino license, and from that point he will be free from, and I quote, "...these rich, white, UBP boys!'"

Premier Cannonier and his colleagues have strenuously denied the allegations.

The Opposition Leader subsequently posted on the Bermuda Election 2012 Facebook page: "I will state that a vote of no confidence applies to the entire Government. A common retort to our claims is manifesting as a question...'Why would I/he sit down with the Opposition Leader and discuss bribes? One clue are the first 2 points of our discussions, and the 2nd clue is the IT contract offer to my Shadow Minister, David Burt."

Mr Burt posted in the same discussion: "9 months after the Premier told parliament about the trip to DC 'jetgate' it is revealed that there was a 4th person on the plane and the person was his private business partner."

The Bermuda Sun reached out to the Premier this weekend for comment, but none was forthcoming. Senior party figures were reportedly involved in discussions over the matter this weekend.

On Friday, Premier Craig Cannonier called Opposition Leader Marc Bean¹s claims in the House of Assembly on Friday "boldfaced lies" and said there's no longer a working relationship between the two.

Mr Cannonier said: "The Opposition Leader must be under a lot of stress right now and pressure from his party. This makes no sense at all. Not only has he impugned negativity upon and lies upon the Premier of this country, but Ministers of this country, of the OBA as a party, and this
cannot be accepted."
Mr Cannonier added he could "not believe" Mr Bean could say those things in the House of Assembly.

The Premier added that the allegation that he, along with the AG and Tourism Minister acted in collusion to grant a casino licence was wrong.

"We don't hand out licences to people, that's for a regulatory body to do that. This is just utter nonsense."

He was tired of hearing the week in, week out "lies, deals and devils" talk from the PLP about the OBA.

Premier Cannonier said: "This is the kind of language the Opposition Leader continues to use -This is unacceptable."

Mr Cannonier added he doesn't need to call Mr Bean into a meeting to get help to get legislation passed "because we have the numbers in the House. He's talking about [a] coalition. Why do I need to collude with him over a coalition? It just makes no sense whatsoever."

The Premier said much progress has been made under the OBA and "I can't believe the Opposition Leader has stooped as low as he has to stop this island from moving forward".

He said the PLP "needs to take a look at its leadership right now".

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