Bermuda's legislature has been called back from Summer Recess for a special sitting on Friday for the tabling of the Boundaries Commission's report.

Acting Clerk to the Legislature Clark Somner issued a release last evening to MPs announcing that the Speaker of the House, Stanley Lowe has called a 'special meeting' at 10 a.m. on Friday morning for the "sole purpose of tabling The Report of the Constituency Boundaries Commission".

Already MP Wayne Perinchief - a Government backbencher - is calling for the debate in the House to proceed before it resumes regular sessions in November.

And he suggested that the central issue of legislators' discussion of the report on electoral reform would be whether the House contain an even or odd number of representatives.

The report which contains recommendations on the number, and boundaries, of new single seat constituencies, represents the end of a crucial chapter in the ongoing process of electoral reform.

Once debated in parliament it will be sent, together with a report of the debate itself, to London where the British Government will decide on the next steps before an order is made which would see Bermuda abandon dual seat constituencies in favour of single seats.

Commission chairman Sir Frank Blackman last week handed the report to acting Governor Tim Gurney who said that arrangements were being made to send it to the House and publicising it to the wider public.

Parliamentary procedure requires tabling the report in the House before publicising it and a debate on a tabled matter cannot take place until at least two weeks have elapsed.

While Government House is keen on making sure that the public gets access to the report well in advance of the debate, Mr. Perinchief says that the debate should take place "sooner rather than later" and that there is no need for it to wait until November.

"Public feedback would no doubt be valuable, but I would opine that since the number 36 is not significantly smaller than 40, then there would be no cause for public outcry," he said.

"We had a lot of public debate beforehand so all the issues are out in the open and only the number would be at issue."

He said he had "no reason to doubt" news reports, in this newspaper and other media outlets, that the Commission has recommended 36 single seat constituencies.

And he made it clear that he would be pushing for the number to be an uneven one so that the country can avoid gridlock during an election.

The United Bermuda Party (UBP) initially recommended a House of 39 elected MPs plus an independent appointed Speaker. And the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) delegates pushed for 32 seats in their submission. The Royal Gazette understands that Sir Frank pushed the two sides to work out a compromise and the figure of 36 was agreed upon.

Ruling party members also exercised their influence on their leadership to recommend a higher number.

None of the Commissioners would answer questions about the contents of the report at Government House last week.

Mr. Perinchief said that he believed a "majority" of his colleagues "see merit in having an uneven number".

"Trinidad and Tobago is proof positive that we need not go down that route."

The Caribbean nation, which has a 36 member chamber is going back to the polls in October after a hung election. "How prophetic," said Mr. Perinchief. "We do not need that situation here."

He anticipated that the debate, when it does take place, will end in bipartisan consensus and the final number agreed upon in the House will not be too different from the Commission's recommendation.

"We really would not want to go to Whitehall severely and significantly divided. And I am sure we are going to try to have some consensus.

"It would be very prudent to do that. I don't imagine any person on the other side suggesting significant changes from that central number. Why would we fly in the face of the Commission? They have deliberated long and in great depth."

But the Opposition UBP is likely to push for other proposals in its own submission to the Commission such as a constitutional conference before any changes are finalised.

Mr. Perinchief who has been the Premier's most vocal critic said that if his party deselected him as a candidate in the next election, he would run as an independent, saying: "I take my mandate from the people."