Parliamentarians from Commonwealth countries around the world are "shocked" at the way Bermuda is going about changing the Constitution, a United Bermuda Party UBP MP claimed yesterday.

UBP MP Cole Simons said that the on-going process of electoral reform was discussed at a meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in Namibia two weeks ago.

But Health Minister Nelson Bascome, who led Bermuda's delegation to the meeting, said that Mr. Simons misrepresented the process and that no one criticised Bermuda during the session.

"He misrepresented Bermuda's scenario," Mr. Bascome said. "He failed to recognise that we had the Boundaries Commission and we had to go back to Britain."

Other delegates from Bermuda were Independent Senator Jeannette Cannonier and House clerk Muriel Roach.

The topic came up at the final session of the meeting of Small Countries, said Mr.Simons. "During that session Mr. Bascome and I shared the details of Bermuda's proposed constitutional changes, in particular the reduced number of MPs, the change to single seat constituencies and the increased number of constituencies," Mr. Simons said.

"Mr. Bascome detailed how, and why the PLP proposed the constitutional changes and I described the politically unprecedented process used to bring about those changes."

Mr. Simons says that his party's argument that the process was flawed was accepted by the other parliamentarians.

"As a result of the discussions at this important plenary session, I thought that Bermuda ought to know that the other Commonwealth parliamentarians found the method used to change Bermuda's constitution was not acceptable," he continued in a written statement.

"They felt that it did not fly in the face of democracy, as it lacked public involvement and did not provide the vital safeguards that are required for constitutional documents."

Asked whether Bermuda was specifically criticised during the meeting or at informal gatherings after the meeting, Mr. Simons said : "It was a mix of both...It was discussed outside the meeting as well. Nelson and I had our dialogue in the official final plenary and then we were talking to other MPs outside of that."

Mr. Simons added that the electoral reform process being used in Bermuda was in stark contrast to procedures set up in countries in the Caribbean and other Commonwealth states.

"I spoke with Members of Parliament, Cabinet Ministers and House Speakers from Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Bahamas, Cayman, Gibraltar, Namibia, St. Kitts and the United Kingdom. I was given a copy of the Constitution of the Association of Eastern Caribbean States. They all insist on a referendum, or a two thirds majority vote by elected members of parliament, and sometimes both of these safeguards at the same time."

The report of the Boundaries Commission, which is recommending that the Island be divided into 36 electoral districts - each one to return one Member of Parliament - will be debated in the House of Assembly in October, but Britain will make the final decision as to what happens before making an order changing the constitution. Whitehall has said that the views of the public will be taken into account and that a referendum or constitutional conference is an option before an order is made changing the Constitution.

"No one in that meeting mentioned that Bermuda is going the wrong way - not one," said Mr. Bascome.

The final meeting was about empowering small Commonwealth countries to preserve their sovereignty and Bermuda came up during a discussion about Gibraltar's quest for sovereignty, the Minister explained.

He said the representatives from Gibraltar wanted to rally the delegates to send a letter to the British Government but "we immediately said to Gibraltar that they had a referendum coming up and there were a number of things they needed to address and the CPA was not the arena in which they should bring their constitutional battles to bear".

"At that point Mr. Simons then talked about Bermuda's situation and what we were doing to bring about electoral reform. I got up and said the basic premise was to create for Bermuda the basic tenets of democracy which is one man one vote each vote of equal value.

"I mentioned that because Bermuda is a colony of Great Britain it had to go through a number of changes that also require an Order in Council, which would have to be made by Britain."

Mr. Bascome criticised Mr. Simons for taking partisan politics to a CPA meeting. "Firstly, if anybody knows, and he definitely doesn't, this is an organisation that's built on the commonality of parliamentarians - most of us use the Westminster model and have an affiliation with Great Britain. Therefore its unconscionable for anyone to bring partisan politics into the forum," the Minister said.

Senator Cannonier said she missed the exchange as she was in another workshop. Asked if political differences between delegates from the same country were often exchanged during a meeting, she said it was relatively rare.

"It was just a one on one between the two of them," said Mrs. Roach, who witnessed the entire exchange.

"I don't recall anybody else saying anything. It was just sort of amusing to me - it was like being back in parliament."