A former Progressive Labour Party candidate is calling for draconian measures to deal with gang violence ? including suspending many of the constitutional protections Bermudians take for granted.

Eugenie Simmons who made a bid to be the PLP?s candidate for the Sandys North by-election said the Governor should invoke the Emergency Powers Act as a national security measure and reign in the violent gangs.

The Constitution allows the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency and assume extraordinary powers to maintain public order and safety for up to 14 days at a time.

Once the state of emergency is declared the Governor can then issue regulations as he sees fit.

In effect the Governor would be suspending constitutional protections in place of a more draconian regime to reign in disorder.

But Ms Simmons said that the intrusion on civil rights which normally comes with such measures would be justified under the circumstances because everyone?s rights were threatened by the violence at Wellington Oval over the weekend.

?Suppose an innocent bystander had been injured in any of that? To what degree have all our civil liberties been affected? At the end of the day the country is too small for that. Can they just go back on the street and continue what they are doing??

Besides, she argued, the behaviour of a few could do considerable damage to Bermuda?s reputation as a safe destination for tourists and international business.

?I?m more concerned that under the current criminal code people are entitled to bail, hearings and they can only be held for a period of time. I think that has to be suspended given the seriousness of the behaviour, until we get to the bottom of this.

?To those who say this is heavy handed I guess I would say to what extent do we allow them to violate all of our rights ... because the rest of us can?t live under these circumstances.?

Asked for her reaction lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said that now was the time to protect people?s rights not erode them.

?I think it?s always tempting, with situations that look extreme, to talk about suspending people?s rights but those are the times when people?s rights are the most important,? Ms Christopher said. ?Things aren?t always what they appear. Justice will win out in the end, but we should not succumb to the temptation to suspend rights.?

?With individual rights come individual responsibility,? Ms Simmons said, adding that the violence should be considered acts of terrorism.

She added: ?We are trying to build national identity and we just had a wonderful display by our national team. We are looking at Independence and we?re looking at trying to be self sufficient. And we can?t lose our focus behind cries of racism because this is not addressing this behaviour.?