The Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) is likely to have Constitutional change on its platform for the next General Election.

"There is certainly a good likelihood that there will be some element or proposal about Constitutional change on our Election platform," UBP Leader Grant Gibbons told The Royal Gazette last night.

No decision has been taken yet but the platform would likely include a proposal that the Constitution itself specify exactly how changes to the document can be made. He was speaking at the end of the last of three public meetings held to explain the Boundaries Commission's electoral reform report and put forward the party's position.

The meetings revealed strong support for the party's position that Bermudians must be given an opportunity to ratify the reforms by way of a referendum and that a Constitutional conference should be held to deal with the implications of the changes.

Since the electoral reform process began last year, the UBP has argued strongly for a conference and, while it is satisfied with the Boundaries Commission's recommendations that the Island be divided into 36 single seat constituencies, it urged members of the public this week to register their feelings on how the Constitution should be changed. Most of the audience members have been UBP supporters and the vast majority said they supported the idea of a referendum and a Constitutional conference when asked by Dr. Gibbons.

The UBP believes that an independent Speaker should be chosen from outside the House of Assembly, that the possibility of an elected Senate should be examined and that the ceiling on the number of Cabinet Ministers should be reviewed.

It also feels that the role of future Boundaries Commissions need to be addressed. All those measures would require changes to the Constitution. And the UBP also objects to the process by which electoral reform is taking place.

After the Boundaries Commission report is debated in the House of Assembly next month, it will be sent to the Foreign Secretary with a record of the debate. Britain will then decide the next steps, which could include a Constitutional conference, before making an order in council changing the Constitution to usher in a single seat electoral system.

The UBP is urging its supporters and the general public to influence the process by supporting a conference and a referendum, arguing that a dangerous precedent will be set for future Constitutional change otherwise. "The big deal is if we are comfortable with it (the report), another Government, it could be a UBP Government or it could be a PLP Government, could take it as the way to go in the future," Dr. Gibbons told an audience of 70 people at St. James' Church last night.

He agreed that a referendum could show overwhelming support for the report's recommendations but said it was important that the wider public has a direct say in whether the Constitution should be changed.

In answer to a question Dr. Gibbons estimated that the earliest the General Election could be held under the single seat system is December. "You could possibly get the order in council in a month (after the October debate)," he said. "You possibly could have the Premier dropping a writ in November or December to to run under single seats ... if it all goes smoothly."

Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt, who sat on the Boundaries Commission, was asked whether he felt comfortable with the outcome of the nine-month long process when it finally ended. "I felt tired," he said. "You ever wrestled with jello? It's a hard thing to get hold of. Yes I felt satisfied that I and Pam (Gordon) got a fair shake around that table and I can tell you everybody else did as well."

He said their "primary goal" was to keep the number of constituencies as high as possible "because we felt it was right for the Country."

He added: "Single seats were never an issue for this United Bermuda Party".

Dr. Gibbons told The Royal Gazette afterward that he felt the meetings had been successful. "This theme of Constitutional change and how we change our Constitution has come up repeatedly in all the meetings. There is certainly a level of interest and concern."