UBP: Fewer MPs would lead to `shoddy workmanship' The following is a continuation of the 25-hour House of Assembly debate on Friday and Saturday morning on proposed changes to the Bermuda Constitution Sports Minister Dennis Lister said UBP MP Tim Smith's comparisons to 23 countries around the world -- 19 of which required a two-thirds majority to change the constitution -- were irrelevant.

He said the 23 countries named were independent, whereas any change in Bermuda had to be approved by Britain.

He said it was made clear at the last Constitutional Conference Bermuda held that another would not be convened unless it was to take the Island independent.

Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley said once the motion was passed, further reductions in the number of MPs could be made to take it to 20 without further public consultation.

Although Premier Jennifer Smith said she did not want 20 MPs, the potential for further reductions to 20 was there without any checks or balances, he said. Mr. Adderley tabled ten amendments to the Government's motion, the main one being that a message be sent to Governor Thorold Masefield requesting that the British Government convene a Constitutional Conference to consider the changes.

And he reiterated what Dr. Gibbons had said by saying Bermuda was too small to have a smaller Government.

The Opposition MP said unlike larger countries, MPs in Bermuda did not have a team of researchers and staff working for them, so they had to do most of the leg work themselves.

Reducing the number of members would only increase that workload and result in shoddy workmanship, he said.

However, he said he may be persuaded that Bermuda needed a smaller number of members and that it should be as low as 28, but as of last night he had heard no good reason for it.

Tourism Minister David Allen accused the former Government of "gerrymandering'' the boundaries on racial grounds to ensure that the UBP won more seats than the PLP.

He claimed the current system and Constitution were "rotten'' and Bermuda needed new foundations on which to build.

"When the boundaries were laid out in 1963, they were set out on racial lines -- Devonshire was a classic example.

"Some of the parishes are North and South and some are East and West -- it was to suit.

"The United Bermuda Party have always shown incredible reluctance to reform.

"It's (the Constitution) like a giant security blanket. We have some very insecure people on the Opposition.

"Single-seat constituencies lead to better accountability -- no buck-passing.

"There will be a better service to the constituents'' And he said he did not know why the Opposition were so worked up about the changes and putting out "misinformation'', as everything lay in the hands of the British Government, anyway.

He added: "This is just a debate tonight. Our Constitution resides in London.'' Long-time UBP member C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said it was wrong of Government to assume that people would glean information about the changes in the House of Assembly via the live radio coverage when most people worked and were unable to sit by a radio all day.

He said he believed Government should remain with 40 seats and he was not in support of the Boundaries Commission telling Bermuda how many MPs it should have, but he said it was for the people to decide.

"We owe it to the people to give them sufficient information. It (a referendum) is not a general election. It's just a way of letting the people decide.'' Minister for Development and Opportunity Terry Lister said he was confused about the Opposition's stance, claiming the UBP had advocated single-seat constituencies in the past, but now was not.

And he lashed out at The Royal Gazette , saying the newspaper and its staff wanted the PLP Government to fail.

The Minister said the public meetings had been about sharing information and said when constitutional conferences were held in 1966 and 1979 there was no public input allowed.

"It's about no longer having the power,'' he said, referring to the UBP.

"If there is no Opposition and no big back bench then that's up to the people. The people will determine how many people they want in Government.'' And he said the PLP should not be ashamed of its performance so far, continuing to attract international business to the Island.

Mr. Lister's Shadow Minister Allan Marshall wanted to refute the claims and said single-seat constituencies were not always the answer to achieving full democracy, stating the St. Lucia figures.

And he admitted he did not know what the best way to go was, but said if a Constitutional Conference was held everybody could consider the options.

And he said the UBP's concerns had nothing to do with the fact they were in opposition.

He added: "It's not about being in Government. It's about representing the people who put us here. We are still in the House debating.'' He also questioned why a small place like Bermuda needed an ombudsman, asking why Government was unable to deal with any complaints itself.

Mr. Marshall said if the Constitution was to be modernised, it should be thoroughly reassessed from beginning to end.

And he described Government's objection that a Constitutional Conference would be too expensive as "nickel and diming'' with the Island's future.

PLP backbencher Delaey Robinson said when he returned to Bermuda in 1971 and was shown a map of the constituencies, he found incredible gerrymandering on race lines.

"When the Opposition said the `old oligarchy is dead', it isn't buried, and that's what we're here to do today. To talk about the process speaks to the lie that the Opposition is in favour of one man one vote of equal value,'' he said.

He said the UBP feared its power would diminish further if a level playing field was introduced.

"These are some of the last changes we have to have before we move towards independence.'' He said the Labour movement had been at the forefront of any fight for progress. "The oligarchy, and the remnants of the oligarchy that sit in the Opposition benches have always stood in the way of change.'' He said it was "absurd'' to talk about involving Bermudians in the changes because this had never happened before when there was constitutional change.

Shadow Health Minister Kim Young said the "Government knows best'' attitude to constitutional change did not bode well for national unity.

"It sets a dangerous precedent if we proceed to make changes willy nilly without having a Constitutional Conference.'' Ms Young said the constitution should be taught in schools, adding that hard won rights would be put in jeopardy if every Government could just come along and change them.

Ms Young agreed that the Constitution needed to be updated but said it should be done over more time and thoroughly.

She said: "If we are looking at the Constitution, we should be making more changes.

"If we had a Constitutional Conference we could be looking at all these things.'' And she said the Constitution should have been modernised so that it was sex, age and gender neutral.

She added: "We don't want any of the rights that we fought so hard for to be changed willy nilly like they are tonight.'' Neletha (Honey) Butterfield , a PLP backbencher, said she had heard no clear arguments from the UBP, and she said everyone she had spoken to in the street had urged Government to "get on with their mandate'' and modernise the Constitution. And she said she had concerns about what members of the Opposition had told members of the public and said she was not surprised there were concerns because people had been misled by the UBP.

She then went on to accuse the UBP of hijacking people into signing their petition for a conference.

The backbencher added: "They have been hijacking people to sign that petition. I was almost hijacked to sign it. Of those 4,000 (signatures) that they might have, I'm wondering how many of them are hijacked signatures.

"I'm proud of this (motion). I want to commend Government because it takes such a lot of courage and such a lot of confidence. This Government has the commitment to push the mandate through to make the overdue changes to this, our Constitution.'' Government backbencher Randolph Horton woke up the chamber at about 5 a.m.

when he rose to speak and boomed out his belief in the changes.

He said he had lived through the racism and had been on the down side of life, so appreciated how important the changes were.

The Opposition, he claimed, could never understand or appreciate what it was to "have your back up against the wall''.

He added: "This Government is fulfilling its promises to the people. This Government makes every move in an effort to bring wider democracy to the people of this country. It's another step towards the ultimate democracy and that is Independence.'' Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley said the UBP had not created the fear -- it was already there and said Government had been arrogant and demeaning in the way it treated anyone who challenged it. But he said one of his main concerns was the proposed changes which meant people could stand as a members of Parliament without giving up their allegiance to another country.

This change comes about after the PLP's Dr. Ewart Brown was forced to give up his citizenship in the US in the mid 90s in order to stand as a PLP member.

Mr. Dunkley said the only reason Government wanted to change the regulations was because it had affected one of their candidates.

But he asked where it would all end? And he said it could cause problems if a dual citizen member had problems deciding on an allegiance over an important issue.

And he said Government could not just change parts of the Constitution as they saw fit just because it adversely affected them from time to time.

He said: "This paragraph is there for a reason. Other countries have this clause they are not throwing it away. It cannot work. You cannot serve two nations.'' Government backbencher Dale Butler mocked the Opposition and said even Baroness Scotland had given them very little time in their bid to oppose the motion.

And he said he had taken outspoken community activist Sanders Frith-Brown, who wants more consultation on the proposals, on a walkabout with him, knocking on doors around the area asking if anyone had concerns.

He said not one house of the 20 they went to even mentioned the constitutional changes.

However, he was asked by the Opposition which houses he went to and whether that had something to do with the outcome of the poll.

The PLP's Walter Lister said even if there was a conference nothing would be resolved because the UBP were not prepared to compromise.

He said: "I say don't ask for a conference, and even if we could give you one we would not give you one because we could not alleviate anything we can't alleviate here.'' The Opposition's Trevor Moniz defended The Royal Gazette and said all the newspaper was interested in was stories and getting comments from people -- something, he claimed, the Government was not prepared to do.

He said the PLP had no idea about Press relations and that was why they felt badly done to by the Press. And he said the people would not be impressed by the way Government had "insulted'' the Opposition throughout the debate.

He said Government was wrong to blame the constitution and UBP underhandedness in the past for causing the PLP to lose elections.

He said: "The PLP could have been in power a long time ago if they had not repeatedly shot themselves in the foot.'' Coverage continues on Pages 9 and 10 Erwin Adderley: tabled ten amendments