Improvements must be made to Bermuda?s political system to help legislators get on with constructive debate and spend less time ranting and raving, according to two veterans of the political process.

Although both have opposing views, former clerk to the legislature John Gilbert and former National Liberal Party leader Charles Jeffers said better conduct in the House of Assembly would help new MPs and backbenchers contribute to constructive debate and help the political system move away from heckling and time wasting.

This week former Cabinet Minister Quinton Edness said new MPs must help improve the quality of debate and familiarise themselves with House rules.

Mr. Edness said backbenchers must not become part of the fray and should thoroughly research a topic before speaking.

In response, John Gilbert, who was clerk to the legislature for 14 years, recommends that new MPs and backbenchers attend Parliamentary training courses held at Westminster in England.

?They don?t have sufficient knowledge of Parliamentary practice and procedure,? said Mr. Gilbert, pointing out that sometimes MPs will interrupt a speech by saying ?point of information? when there is really no such term that exists for use in Parliament.

Mr. Gilbert, who gives interested visitors and locals a tour of the House and a briefing in House procedure, said the Westminster courses would boost the level of conduct of politicians.

?There?s time wasting going on up there, interference with speeches, talking while another member of the House is making a speech, and over-interpolation,? said Mr. Gilbert. ?It holds up debate and all it serves to do is help the Speaker to lose his or her train of thought. There?s a continuous barrage of shouts and unruly behaviour which results in the Speaker having to call for order ? it?s a waste of valuable debating time.?

Mr. Gilbert said loud comments, unruly behaviour and requiring the Speaker to continually call the House to order used up valuable time and detracted from the decorum of the House.

?Members should not be talking while a speech is being made, there needs to be respect for the member that is on his or her feet,? said Mr. Gilbert.

He said the behaviour crossed political lines and was demonstrated over the airwaves on the radio which broadcasts the Friday session of the House.

?If you listen properly it has the cumulative effect of raising the standard of debate and preventing unnecessary confusion,? he said. When asked to comment whether or not he felt the current Speaker of the House Stanley Lowe could do a better job in presiding over debate, Mr. Gilbert said he felt both Mr. Lowe and Deputy Speaker of the House Jennifer Smith knew the rules ?backwards and forwards?.

?It?s not an easy job, the Speaker must conduct Parliament, it?s a difficult task, they have to keep their finger on the pulse point of proceedings and get a member back on track when they stray off a subject.?

Mr. Jeffers, formerly a PLP member, said he felt disenchanted with a system that did not appear to be working in a small country like Bermuda. Mr. Jeffers, who graduated several years ago with a BA in Political Science from Queen?s University in Kingston, believes divisions along party lines were ineffective in Bermuda as it divided people rather than getting the job done, and was conducive to heckling and unruly behaviour. Televising debates would also stop some MPs from having their own conversations or putting their feet up and reading the newspaper.

?Television had an effect on helping people behave, you can see in Canada and other jurisdictions once they start televising the debate people really mind their Ps and Qs.?

He suggests adopting a US-style model which allows elected Republicans and Democrats to vote by their conscience as opposed to party line.

In the US, he also pointed out that the President chose his Cabinet based on expertise and experience as opposed to membership in a particular political party.

?We?ll see in this system that a politician will get up and speak against something and then he will vote for it,? said Mr. Jeffers. He said once a member was elected in the Westminster system he or she was expected to demonstrate loyalty to the party before demonstrating their individual or constituent beliefs on a particular issue.

?We need to review the system to implement a system which can best represent politicians according to their constituents and their conscience.?

Senator Walter Roban said as a new politician he would be receptive to training. However, he felt that what outsiders to politics sometimes considered time wasting was in fact part of the nature of debate.

?If you look at the House of Commons in the UK, you?ll see that it can become an active fervent place and quite often an energetic and chaotic situation.

?It?s part of the culture of Parliament that when there is noise and heckling it doesn?t mean that it?s less effective debating, often it?s part of the art of debate and part of the energy of debate. It?s for the persons in that environment to respond and to deal with it how it comes.?

He felt the level of debate and conduct was fairly good.

?Our members are fairly good, but if the opportunity to be trained to become even better came around I think they would have the opportunity to be even better.?