By Ethan James in Hobart

Tasmania’s embattled Liberal premier has doubled down on his refusal to resign as the state’s political limbo becomes increasingly personal. 

The island state is staring down the barrel of its fourth election in seven years, with Governor Barbara Baker mulling whether to call a snap poll if no workable government can be found.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff visited Ms Baker and made the request on Tuesday evening, five days after losing a no-confidence vote on the floor of parliament.

The most likely way for Tasmania to avoid an election appears to be Mr Rockliff stepping down as premier or being rolled by the Liberals, allowing his party to find a new leader.

There are reports former senator Eric Abetz and ex-deputy premier Michael Ferguson would be willing to be leader.

However, Mr Rockliff has been steadfast, saying he won’t resign and the backing of his partyroom remains solid.

“I have a commitment from my team to support me as leader and I am not going anywhere,” he said on Wednesday.

Mr Rockliff denied he was “driven by ego” in not standing aside.

Liberal MP Jacquie Petrusma didn’t directly answer when asked if the party was doing numbers to roll Mr Rockliff.

“The premier is a fantastic leader and he has 100 per cent support of the PLP (parliamentary Liberal Party),” she said.

Ms Baker is considering “all available options” to form a government and is expected to again meet Mr Rockliff by Friday.

She met Labor leader Dean Winter on Wednesday afternoon and said updates would be made public in due course.

Labor, which has just 10 of 35 lower-house seats, has said it won’t look to form a minority government with the Greens, who have offered an olive branch.

“In that meeting (with the governor) I reiterated my position that Labor will not be doing a deal with the Greens,” Mr Winter said in a statement.

Labor, whose no-confidence motion against Mr Rockliff was backed by the Greens and three crossbench independents, has called on the premier to step down.

“We’ve gotten to this point because of Jeremy Rockliff and his refusal to resign,” Labor MP Shane Broad said.

“I come from a farm and no matter how much you love that old sheep dog, if you can’t round up sheep anymore it’s time to get a new one.”

Mr Rockliff claimed the no-confidence motion was a deceptive power grab, while Labor says it was because of the Liberals’ poor budget and project mismanagement.

The premier took a crack at Mr Winter for failing to “front up” and hold a press conference on Wednesday.

The Liberals appear in fully fledged campaign mode and visited a hospital to announce a four-year elective surgery plan.

They were returned to power in March 2024, winning 14 seats and cobbling together enough support from the crossbench to govern.