Former Cabinet Minister Quinton Edness has joined calls for a Constitutional conference as part of the process to amend the Constitution.

And he said Government should provide more than two months' time for people to understand, digest and react to what is being proposed as it will affect the life "of every man, woman and child living in Bermuda''.

"The Government should also indicate to the public what it has in mind to reduce the size of the House of Assembly, and how many single seat constituencies it has in mind for the country,'' Mr. Edness said. "To do less is to play games and create suspicions among the public about the Government's intent.'' Mr. Edness referred to the British Government White Paper on the Overseas Territories in which Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said: "Suggestions from overseas territory governments for specific proposals for constitutional change will be considered carefully.'' And Mr. Cook said future action will focus on measures promoting more open, transparent and accountable government, the promotion of representative and participative government, freedom of speech and information and the provision of high standards of justice.

Mr. Edness said he expects the British Government to ensure the process bringing about change is fair, open, and transparent. He said that required the Opposition party to have an opportunity to be fairly represented in the process, which will only happen at a Constitutional conference.

And the long-time United Bermuda Party member hit back at Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb, who claimed last week that a Constitutional conference would be a waste of time and money.

Mr. Edness said: "The Minister of Telecommunications is being rather flippant and dictatorial about the processes to bring about the proposed changes to the Constitution.

"Some of the changes involved are sufficiently substantive that a fair and democratic Government would want to ensure: firstly, as wide a public discussion as possible to inform its citizenry, secondly, welcome feedback from the public before finalising decisions, and thirdly, encourage representation from the opposition party, which represents 45 percent of the electorate, through a tripartite Constitutional conference.'' Mr. Edness said he could not think of anything more important to spend money on than to properly inform the public about major changes to the Constitution.

He said: "Ms Webb seems to have missed the profoundness of the changes on the life of every Bermudian and how important it is for them to understand what is being proposed, albeit the changes may very well be for the common good.'' Changes to the Constitution include: Altering the composition of the House of Assembly by reducing the number of members.

Mr. Edness said: "The public is not being told by how much it is intended to reduce the representation of members in the House of Assembly by and the method being proposed, that of the Boundaries Commission, will prevent any public discussion.'' Abolish parish boundaries as the basis on which Constituency Boundaries are drawn in an effort to ensure the constituencies contain, as far as possible, equal numbers of persons qualified to be registered as voters.

Just how many constituencies will not be known until after the Constitution is amended and a Boundaries Commission held.

Mr. Edness said: "This is a logistical matter because of the way the Government has chosen to amend the Constitution and implement the changes, but surely there should be some direction given to the Commission by the Legislature, and input and representation by the opposition party.''