Britain must now urgently resolve the question of how Bermuda should go to Independence, says lawyer Warren Cabral.

Mr. Cabral, the secretary of the lobby group the Association for Due Process, was reacting to the ruling party's summary of its submission to the Governor on how the Constitution should be changed in the future.

The party declined to offer a proposal on procedure for future constitutional changes, saying that the UK had already established a precedent that was "clear, transparent and in keeping with democratic practice", and that it would not consider any constitutional amendments until Bermuda is ready for Independence.

"I can only say it is a pity that the PLP appears to have learnt nothing from the (electoral reform process) debacle in 2001," Mr. Cabral said in an e-mail from London.

He supports Independence for Bermuda, but is concerned about the PLP's long held position that it should be brought through a General Election.

Yesterday Premier Alex Scott, who has called for a national discussion on Independence, hinted that the party may be flexible on that position.

Mr. Cabral's lobby group had opposed the way Government chose to reform the electoral system, saying that the precedent was to have a constitutional conference before changing the Constitution.

"The criticism of the process at that time was that it was neither clear nor transparent, as the British Government have expressly acknowledged in their call for submissions on future change procedures. Just because the PLP says it is clear does not make it so. Likewise, the method was not particularly democratic, except in the narrow sense of ruthlessly following a Westminster-style majoritarianism.

"There are scores of examples from other Commonwealth countries with similar systems to Bermuda's of a more 'democratic' approach, in the sense of fair to all, widespread and consensual. Canada and New Zealand, for example, have 'entrenched' systems," he continued.

And he accused the PLP of attempting to preserve "their own stranglehold on procedure, which is not a particularly respectable position to take".

He said he was relieved that the PLP would not be seeking any changes until Bermuda was ready to go Independent.

"It is clear that can only be a short-term position, so the PLP must be intending to fight the next election on Independence. Let us hope the British Government imposes a constitutional change to entrench a procedure as what will be at issue is how Independence is achieved," Mr. Cabral continued.

He noted the PLP's long-held position that Independence should be a General Election issue.

"If the Constitution is not amended today to provide for a procedure for use at the time of considering Independence, then there will be no mechanism for deciding that important issue. It is therefore critical that the British Government resolve the procedural question in advance, otherwise we will be left with the same situation we had with the Boundaries Commission, which is to say the Government and the UK going off on their own.

"At the very least, there would be a constitutional conference, which is something the British have repeatedly said they would do for Independence. But the PLP statement implies they will not agree to hold a constitutional conference. In short, the country will have made no progress at all," he said.

"Obviously, the PLP fear they cannot win a wide mandate in support of Independence, otherwise they would have the courage to follow the example of more sophisticated countries instead of relying on brute parliamentary power."

He added: "The PLP clearly wish to force themselves upon the wider country, as opposed to their own constituency, with, if past form is anything to go by, a narrow mandate hidden in a General Election platform issued the day before an election.

"That is a pity, as the Founders' speech gave the impression that the PLP was sincere in wanting to start an early education campaign, the result of which would ideally be the support of the entire country in the move to Independence. With that, I agree. With a contempt for the intelligence of the general public I cannot agree.

"Arrogating the procedure to the Government in power represents contempt for the people of Bermuda. The PLP are saying they reject a procedure which is clear to anyone but themselves, or which is democratic in any sense but their own numerical majority in the House of Assembly. An opportunity for leadership and statesmanship has been lost."