by just over 30 people -- turned out to be more of an evening of party history than electioneering.

But outspoken National Liberal Party chairman Mr. Geoff Parker managed to squeeze in some strong campaign talk at the start, even though he believed the public was "sick to death'' of hearing him bring up at least one issue.

Nevertheless, he said: "The two leaders of the UBP and PLP have the gall to ignore the Constitution of Bermuda denying the fundamental rights of the taxpayer to know what is happening with the management of his money.

"Last night (Thursday) we commented in full on the missing Auditor's reports and the breaching of the Bermuda Constitution. But we cannot allow this topic to be a two-week crisis and then forget about it.

"It is a most serious indiscretion and instead of sweeping the matter under the carpet, the leaders of the United Bermuda Party and the Progressive Labour Party should have the guts to admit they have broken the people's trust and withdraw from this election.'' Mr. Parker was referring to his party's claim the Auditor General had failed since 1988 to present his report on public finances to the House of Assembly.

Mr. Parker also took Government to task for refusing to take part in public debates over the issues, saying it was "his biggest disappointment as a novice politician''.

The UBP had even refused to send a female candidate to a Women's Resource Centre debate over women's issues on television with NLP and PLP candidates, he noted.

"As a voter I am personally appalled at the lack of debate,'' he said. "As a candidate I am embarrassed, because you the voter may be thinking that I am going to carry on the same way.'' The NLP was needed in the House of Assembly to prevent abuse of the system by Government and the Opposition, he said.

"We need Parliamentary and Constitutional reform badly,'' he said. "The only way to get it is to get as many NLP people into the House for we cannot make reforms from the outside.'' Devonshire North candidate Mr. Austin Thomas, before launching into his political history and what he stood for -- corporal punishment in schools, harmony in the workplace and secret ballots, improving the quality of life and stopping youngsters falling through the cracks -- said his party was "tired of all the bickering, squabbling, lying and cheating''.

The NLP was not going to engage in that sort of negative campaigning, he said.