MPs last night agreed to re-write Bermuda's political map in what Premier Jennifer Smith described as the culmination of a 40-year struggle for a fair electoral system.

The Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) supported the recommendations of the Boundaries Commission for 36 single-seat constituencies, but accused the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) of polarising the community and causing unnecessary anxiety by railroading the process without proper consultation.

A UBP motion to have a referendum on the changes, compulsory re-registration of all voters before the new system is introduced, and an independently elected Speaker, was voted down.

Deputy Governor Tim Gurney sat in the House of Assembly to witness what both parties agreed was an historic debate.

The British Government - which will be sent a transcript of the entire debate - must now decide whether to approve the changes through an Order in Council, although it has not ruled out a constitutional conference or referendum to ratify the new system.

In a powerful speech, the Premier once again ruled out a referendum, saying the PLP had been given a mandate already for the changes when it won the 1998 election.

The new system will reduce the number of MPs from 40 to 36 and replace dual seat constituencies with single member seats.

"With this move, the long-cherished dream of many Bermudians and certainly of the PLP, that of establishing a modernised and reformed electoral system predicated on the democratic ideal of 'one person, one vote, each of equal value', will become a reality.

"Every meeting day in this House is important, but today is historic," said the Premier.

"Our actions today can help to bring Bermuda's electoral system into the 21st century and a quest begun 40 years ago (when the PLP was founded) can finally be concluded." Dual seat constituencies based on parish boundaries had frustrated all previous attempts to introduce a truly fair electoral system, she said.

Currently, there are 37,116 registered voters, but they were spread unevenly in different constituencies.

Paget East had 1,344 voters while Warwick East had 2,594 electors, yet both returned two MPs.

"Despite the fact that successive Boundary Commissions have regularly reconfigured electoral districts since the inception of responsible government in Bermuda, the implementation of their recommendations has failed on every occasion to establish constituencies of equal numbers of voters, or to even come close to achieving that objective," she continued.

"Having demonstrated the glaring (disparity)in voter numbers that exist in Bermuda's current electoral constituencies, I don't think that anyone can present a plausible argument which would justify the retention of the present system."

Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said the UBP supported single seats and votes of equal value - "how could anyone do otherwise" - although the reforms were not perfect.

The number satisfied UBP concerns that there were enough backbench MPs, sufficient members for committees, and the threat of too much power being concentrated in Cabinet had been diminished, but had not disappeared.

The narrow focus of the Boundaries Commission meant it did not address the UBP desire for an elected Speaker. Having an MP as Speaker, without a running partner as now, covering his constituents' needs "makes a nonsense of one person, one vote of equal value".

Dr. Gibbons said the PLP had ignored the 8,500 people who signed a petition for a referendum and constitutional conference as well as public meetings and opinion poll rating of 75 percent in support.

"From the beginning, the approach from the PLP has created anxiety and suspicion and polarisation in the community which would not have been necessary if it had been handled properly," he said.

The Premier had stated in February, 2000 in the House of Assembly that she had no plans for constitutional change within the calendar year, yet in August she unveiled her reform plans.

"The public and ourselves were taken by surprise and the public were also not made aware of the insistence of the UK government on a constitutional checklist which Government should have shared with the people about how this process should be moved forward."

Dr. Gibbons attacked the British government for not outlining clearly which processes were to be followed, which could have allayed anxiety in the Bermuda that the reforms were being bulldozed through.

He accused London of "making it up as it goes along," and said even after a Foreign Office team visited the Island to observe the consultation process, the overwhelming majority of voters still felt left out of the process.

"The voters want a government they can trust to act fairly without fear or favour, a government that trusts them to have a say in the process to ratify these significant constitutional changes.

"Unfortunately, the people got neither and the Smith government found it expedient to move quickly, and we know that neither consultation nor transparency have been evident in the last four years."

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said the UBP, which manufactured the "unjust" system which kept down blacks, had no moral authority to criticise how the PLP introduced democratic changes.

"If your boot is on my neck, are you qualified to judge how your boot is removed?" he asked.