A statement by former Bermuda Regiment Commanders calling on the Opposition to leave the ending of conscription in the hands of Premier Michael Dunkley was contested by Shadow Public Safety Minister Walter Roban.

Mr Roban said the Opposition Progressive Labour Party must “respectfully disagree” with a statement put out by the Nine Colonels group cautioning against an accelerated agenda for phasing out conscription.

“Bermuda is a democracy, not the barracks at Warwick Camp where orders are barked out and followed in unquestioning silence,” Mr Roban said, accusing Mr Dunkley of contradicting himself on the topic.

Mr Dunkley has “flipped from his previous position where he demanded progress to one where he is now obstructing progress without explanation”, the Pembroke East MP said, charging that the Premier and National Security Minister hadn’t released details on the dismantling of conscription, or explained why it would take until 2019.

Mr Dunkley has proposed 2016 as the final year to take in conscripts, which would mean that the last conscripts would finish their service in 2019.

Last week, Mr Roban urged Government to move faster, prompting the Nine Colonels to speak out against “undue political pressure” forcing Mr Dunkley’s hand.

Noting the members’ service to the Regiment, Mr Roban took issue with the suggestion that the Opposition should “let the Premier do what the Premier feels he must do”.

Mr Roban said: “An orderly transition to a volunteer Regiment is supported by the PLP, yet while the OBA drags their feet without explanation our young men continue to be drafted, and in some cases criminalised for their opposition to being forced into military service against their will. This must be addressed sooner, rather than later.”

Mr Roban also said the group of former Regiment Commanders would “better serve the country and the Regiment by not attacking the Opposition in doing its job” — suggesting the Nine Colonels needed to back the move away from conscription “rather than clinging to the past arguing for its retention”.