INDEPENDENT MP Trevor Moniz has called for the register which requires MPs to declare their financial interests to be written into the Constitution at the same time as other changes proposed by the Government are made.

As the man who was the driving force behind the creation of the Register of Members' Interests 15 months ago, Mr. Moniz suggested it should be independently overseen by the yet-to-be-appointed Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Mr. Moniz chaired a committee that worked for six years to formulate the register, which is designed to ensure the interests of members are made public to prevent decision-making in the House being affected by undue influences.

Government backbencher El James is the only Member of Parliament who has not yet declared his interests in the register.

So far it has worked as a members' rule, on a self-policing basis, and it has loopholes which allow MPs not to declare the assets of spouses and dependents.

Mr. Moniz, now an Independent after he was ousted from the United Bermuda Party Parliamentary group, said it was time to take the register to the next level.

"It's hard to get people to police themselves," said Mr. Moniz. "One of the proposals for the future is to have an Ombudsman. If the register were entrenched in the Constitution, then one of the Ombudsman's responsibilites could be the oversight of the register. I would like to see that."

Mr. Moniz said the aim of the register was to clarify any conflicts of interests and he wanted to see its net spread wider to include assets of spouses.

There were no punitive powers to deal with those who failed to comply, he added. But what action did he feel could be taken against Mr. James?

"I think that's really a matter for the committee," said Mr. Moniz. "El is not a Minister so he is not exercising any executive power. I've spoken to El and I don't think he has large commercial interests, so I have the feeling there is no smoking gun here.

"But obviously it's not a healthy situation and it's something we, as a committee, should deal with at some point, either in the Budget Parliamentary session or in May."

Mr. Moniz wanted to see a structure in place which would keep the register effective long after he was no longer in Parliament.

"The Foreign & Commonwealth Office checklist for the constitutions of the remaining Overseas Territories says there should be a register of interests," he said. "But when I made representations to the FCO people to ask them to entrench the register in our constitution, they said, `No, not this time'.

"When they make the constitutional changes they are looking at now, I think it would be a good time to include the register."

Mr. Moniz felt that getting the register established had been a success in itself.

"Getting the register included in the rules of the House of Assembly was a paradigm shift," he said. "People in other countries are used to this sort of requirement, but Parliamentarians here had to be persuaded.

"People have bought into it. Certainly I've noticed that people like the Premier and Renee Webb and other people have filled in forms to keep their record of interests up to date."

Premier Jennifer Smith was asked for her views on the Register of Members' Interests and its future, but she did not respond by press time yesterday.