Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman has cocked a trigger to shoot down Labor should Premier David Bartlett or his party renege on a promise to hand over power in the event of an evenly split hung parliament.
Mr Hodgman has set his sights on a no-confidence motion if Mr Bartlett goes back on his pledge to yield power in the event of a tie and if Labor won less votes overall than the Liberals in the March 20 state election - which they did, with the Greens holding the balance of power.
Greens candidate Paul O'Halloran on Wednesday won the only seat left to be determined - the northwest electorate of Braddon.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
10-10-5 split
The make-up of the next Tasmanian assembly will be a 10-10-five split of Liberal, Labor and Greens, respectively.
The ALP polled 37 per cent of the state's vote to the Liberals' 39 per cent in the state poll.
Mr Bartlett has repeatedly said that should the number of seats be tied, whichever party polled the most votes overall should be first allowed to try to form a minority government.
He did not reiterate that position on Wednesday and will make an announcement on Thursday.
But the Liberal leader on Wednesday said Labor would do or say anything to hang on to power, including going back on the Bartlett promise.
'Illegitimate government'
If they did, and Labor tried to continue in government, "then I would consider them to be an illegitimate government", he told reporters in Hobart.
Mr Hodgman said he believed a no-confidence motion was a serious option and one he expected the Greens would be honour-bound to support.
"I think Tasmanians would consider it very poor form if the Bartlett government, or whoever leads Labor, tries to take office given that strong commitment made by Mr Bartlett on behalf of the Labor Party," he said.
As the incumbent government, Labor has the democratic right to first try to govern in minority - but needs the support of the Greens to do so.
Labor-Greens deal shot down
Mr Bartlett has refused to consider entering a deal with the Greens, citing his personal distrust of the party's leader, Nick McKim.
Mr McKim says a deal is the only thing that will deliver stability.
Senior Labor figures are now wondering why they should give away the right to govern, and why not make a deal with Greens.
While Mr Hodgman reminded everyone of his dibs on becoming premier, Labor's brains trust was meeting nearby.
Hare-Clark electoral system
The Labor Party has been thrashing out the merits of the Bartlett promise.
Party sources say the behind-closed-door talks could result in a change of leadership or the party may argue the governor had asked it to try to form a government, prompting it to abandon the Bartlett promise.
Five electorates in Tasmania each return five candidates under the 100-year-old Hare-Clark system of proportional representation for the 25-member assembly in which 13 MPs make a majority.
