Bermuda's House of Assembly should have 39 elected members - giving one MP for approximately 1,000 voters - and an independent, appointed Speaker, says the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP).

The party's submission to the Boundaries Commission was made public at a Press conference yesterday.

“There is no need to reduce the number of Members of Parliament,” reads the executive summary of the ten-page submission.

“We do not believe that any case has been made for a reduction in numbers, while the risks and difficulties of such a change have been voiced. However, we recommend that the number of elected MPs be changed to an odd number, 39, to reduce the risk of a deadlocked Parliament, with the 40th member being an independent, appointed Speaker.”

The position paper argues against substantially reducing the number of Parliamentarians, saying such a move would weaken democracy, lead to too much power being concentrated in Cabinet and the Premier and weaken the Opposition.

It adds that a reduced Assembly would also reduce the effectiveness of Parliament by harming the role of backbenchers in helping to make Government accessible and accountable.

Backbenchers serve on a number of House committees, the party notes, and also serve important roles on Government Boards.

And they serve as an important part of the checks and balances in Bermuda's system, it states. “In the last Parliament, there were half a dozen occasions on which some on the Government backbench and the Opposition joined to oppose the Government of the day.”

The paper also argues for a Constitutional Conference and repeats the party's position that a referendum should also be held to allow the people to ratify whatever number of MPs the Boundaries Commission recommends.

“In the event the Commission cannot agree, and there are two or more recommendations, those numbers should be put to a vote by way of a referendum.”

A Constitutional Conference would “consider the many significant ramifications of a reduction”, including the number of senators and how they are selected, the number of Ministers, the organisation of the House of Assembly and the Committee system.

How the speaker is selected would also be considered by the Conference as well as the procedure for future changes to the Constitution and guidelines for the operation of the Boundaries Commission, the party suggests.

“We remain concerned over the way in which Constitutional reform has been undertaken to date,” the submission continues.

“The narrow remit of the Boundaries Commission coupled with the process under which it has operated, and the lack of public debate has only served to highlight this concern.”

On the redrawing of the constituency boundaries, the party says that the Commission should try to keep the districts within parishes' boundaries, “for the sake of continuity and familiarity”, and only depart from parish boundaries to ensure equal size districts.

“The division of Bermuda into nine parishes is readily recognised, accepted and understood by voters; indeed the division... is employed for the current parish councils and by the political parties themselves,” the paper states.

“The employment of parish boundaries will help simplify in choosing names for the new districts and again provide for continuity.”

But the party is also recommending that the public be given an opportunity to give feedback on the boundaries once they are drawn.