GOVERNOR Peter Underwood yesterday refused to anoint a new premier, casting doubt on Will Hodgman's expected ascension.
Mr Underwood said that he was not in a position to make a decision, following a visit by Premier David Bartlett and later Mr Hodgman.
Mr Bartlett waited until the declaration of the March 20 poll by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
He then refused to take questions but told the media the advice he delivered to the Governor was consistent with commitments he had made during the election campaign.
"I expect or I anticipate that his excellency may wish to release that advice in full in the future but that's at his discretion but I can inform you that that advice contains within it the commitments followed in full, to the letter that I made to the Tasmanian people in recent times," he said.
It has been Mr Bartlett's position that in the event of a tie, the party with the most votes should form government - in this case the Liberals.
But for Mr Underwood to commission the Liberals to form government, he must be satisfied their leader would have support on the floor of the House of Assembly.
Both the Liberals and Labor have ruled out doing a deal with the Greens, despite Greens leader Nick McKim arguing a negotiated agreement would be the most stable arrangement.
Mr Hodgman was called to Government House shortly after Mr Bartlett's meeting and spent about 15 minutes with Mr Underwood.
He emerged smiling but said that he was unable to make any comment.
Government House issued a statement at 5.20pm yesterday saying the Governor was "not in a position at this stage to make a decision and in those circumstances it is inappropriate for him to make any comment".
Political analyst Richard Herr said that he was not surprised by any of the Governor's actions and that he remained of the view Mr Bartlett would be recommissioned as premier to test his support on the floor of the House.
"The significance of the Governor's statement ... is that having spoken with the two leaders he does not have any certainty at the moment," Professor Herr said.
"He's unwilling to commission a new government with out some degree of certainty that it will enjoy the support of the Parliament."
Mr McKim was not invited to Government House but Professor Herr said that would most likely only occur if one of the parties claimed to have support of the Greens.
The Greens did not receive a call from either Mr Bartlett or Mr Hodgman yesterday but Mr McKim said that his party remained open to negotiations.
"We've consistently said that we would seek to negotiate with either or both of the other two parties and we also encourage them to negotiate with each other," he said.
"The Tasmanian people didn't give a mandate to any one party to implement all of its policies - that applies to us as much as it applies to any other party.
"We're ready to compromise, we're ready to work constructively and co- operatively and deliver a framework that can maximise the chances of stable government and good governance in Tasmania."
Mr Underwood has seven days from the return of the writs to decide who should form the state's next government.
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