FOR the third time, polls have indicated that up to three-quarters of Bermudians want a Constitutional Conference to consider changes being made to the island's electoral map by the Boundaries Commission, the president of the Association for Due Process & The Constitution claimed last night.

The Association has been lobbying for an all-party Constitutional Conference since Government first announced it was appointing a Boundaries Commission to carry out its electoral mandate to introduce single-seat Parliamentary constituencies.

"Once again nearly 75 per cent of the electorate have called for a Constitutional Conference to dispel the clouds of doubt surrounding the current process of deciding the number of Members of Parliament and the location of the electoral boundaries," Association president Warren Cabral said last night from his Appleby, Spurling & Kempe offices in London.

"From an opinion poll of 404 registered electors, with a margin of error of 4.9 per cent, it is plain to see the Government, the political parties and the Boundaries Commision have failed so far to win the confidence of the people, who have consistently indicated over two previous polls that they feel left in the dark," Mr. Cabral said.

"The majority of people polled said what they would like to see happen," Dr. Stanley Ratteray, vice-president of the Association, added. "The poll was conducted two weeks ago. As far as we are concerned the issue is still very much alive."

The Association's contention is that the process undertaken by the Government and Foreign & Commonwealth Office is "incorrect".

"This is in light of the original commitment given to us in 1966 by the British Government which says that whenever there is a major constitutional change there ought to be a Constitutional Conference," Dr. Ratteray said. "I fail to understand how anyone can think changing the number of Members of Parliament and the boundaries of the constituencies is not a constitutional issue."

Dr. Ratteray prevailed upon the Foreign Commonwealth Office to honour this commitment. "What the people want was demonstrated in the poll taken two weeks ago," he said. "The people want a Constitutional Conference."

In the poll conducted by Walton Brown's Research Innovations company 74.7 per cent of voters answered "yes" to the question: "Do you want to see a Constitutional Conference to settle the issues affecting reform of the electoral boundaries?"

When the survey was broken down into racial categories: 68.7 per cent of black voters said they wanted the Constitutional Conference compared to 85.6 per cent of white voters.

"Three-quarters of the electorate, on the basis of a reliable poll by a highly respected pollster, have shown that the public continues to expect the British and Bermuda Governments to convene a Constitutional Conference in accordance with established practice," Mr. Cabral said.

"Bermudians are very traditional, law-abiding people. They recognise when something is done outside of established practice.

"It makes them feel uncomfortable, it makes the Association feel uncomfortable."

Mr. Cabral said when the Government was inconsistent in its approach and "makes up" procedure it created uncertainty.

"The product of whatever deliberations the Boundaries Commission carries out will be regarded with suspicion because they have arrived at their conclusions in a completely manufactured way," Mr. Cabral said. "This is not the way we have always done business.

"This is something cobbled together by the British Government in a makeshift manner."

Mr. Cabral said the chosen process' failings were demonstrated at the series of public meetings on the matter held last year.

"The Boundaries Commission seems to have no basic idea about how to approach their mission," Mr. Cabral said. "They asked the public for their views on the methodology for approaching the matter after they had already decided.

"They effectively put the cart before the horse. This insecurity and basic confusion of thought feeds through to the public who now feel insecure as they have done for the past year. They wish to see a return to the established method of approaching this important matter."

He said until this happened the community would not accept the result of the Boundaries Commission's deliberations.

"The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom would do well to consider the wishes of Bermudians just as he has considered the wishes of the people of Gibraltar," he said. "The British Government has done this in the recent decision to hold a referendum to consider a treaty on Gibraltar's future with Spain.

"The people there object to what is happening but at least they have been given the right to express their views in a recognised and formal manner instead of slapdash public meetings. Therefore the Association will continue to press for a Constitutional Conference."