Page "Politics of Bermuda" Paragraph 14

Despite the previous emphasis, any mention of independence was absent from the PLP's general election platform both in 1998, when the PLP first triumphed at the polls, and again in 2003.

In fact, Premier Jennifer M. Smith stated that she would not pursue independence during her first term.

Again, in 2001, she made the following statement: " As I have stated repeatedly, consistently and unequivocally since assuming the leadership of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party, I shall state once again for the record – independence is not an issue that we will address in our first term and probably not in our second term .... We believe that there are a number of areas that need addressing before Bermuda heads down this road.