Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons unveiled his new Shadow Cabinet on Monday, and all the signs suggest that the United Bermuda Party plans to be a strong Opposition in the new House of Assembly.

There were few major changes in the Shadow Cabinet, a move forced as much by circumstances by choice.

Because the UBP was returned with the same number of MPs as it had in the last Parliament, Dr. Gibbons was limited in the number of changes that he could make.

Nonetheless, the UBP is in a stronger position than in 1998, because the PLP had a net reduction of four seats as the size of the House was cut from 40 to 36 seats. Thus the proportion of seats that the UBP holds is higher than it was. And with 48 percent of the popular vote, the UBP can claim to be more of a government in waiting than it was after the last Election defeat.

And Government and Opposition politicians are all aware that a few small shifts in voting in different constituencies could have put the UBP in an even stronger position - a primary cause of the Progressive Labour Party rebellion.

That means that the UBP has momentum going into the session and that it has a duty to represent those people who did vote for it and to continue to be a god watchdog, a role it performed very well up to the Election.

Two areas which the UBP focused on heavily in the campaign clearly resonated with the voters; the plight of the elderly and the housing shortage.

Rightly, the Opposition will continue to focus on those issues now and has appointed Wayne Furbert as its Shadow Housing Minister and Louise Jackson has Community Affairs Minister with a special focus on the elderly.

It is no coincidence that these are also the two issues that new Premier Alex Scott has identified as ones that the Government may want to cooperate on with the Opposition.

The UBP's home purchase plan in the campaign was by far the most exciting policy initiative put forward by either party, and if it is workable, it should be adopted and put in place.

And the UBP put a good deal more thought into solutions for helping the elderly than the PLP had.

Mr. Scott is not foolish and knows that these two issues are potential Achilles heels for the PLP, so if he can co-opt the UBP's ideas, then he can make his own Government look better (and improves his own position as Premier). To be sure, he also runs the risk of being accused of stealing ideas from the UBP.

The UBP faces the opposite problems. If it cooperates and does not get any credit, then it has simply given away good policy positions without getting any credit and could consolidate the PLP's grip on power, which is not something it wants to do. It also runs the risk of compromising its watchdog status if it is working with the Government.

On the plus side, it can set new and higher standards for cooperation at a national level and having said in its own platform that it would improve cooperation if elected.

The bottom line is that it would be a waste if Bermuda lost good ideas because they came from the "wrong place". It has been noted that voters are tired of divisiveness and a "we don't care what you think" approach to governing and simply want what's best for Bermuda.

That should be the guide for both parties.