Government backbencher Mr. Trevor Moniz MP said yesterday he will seek a waiver to allow Cabinet Ministers to speak freely about a Cabinet meeting held on the day the Independence Referendum was postponed.

Mr. Moniz's move comes after several witnesses, including Premier Sir John Swan, last week cited Cabinet oaths of secrecy when they appeared before the Commission of Inquiry into the one-day postponement of the Referendum.

The commission headed by retired Court of Appeal Judge Telford Georges has heard repeated charges that there had been a move at the 5.30 p.m. gathering of the former Cabinet to postpone the referendum, which was delayed for a day by Hurricane Felix, until December.

But neither the commission nor Premier David Saul, who gave the green light to its formation in September, have made any attempt since then to procure the Cabinet waiver required by the Constitution to either obtain the minutes of the meeting or allow those who were present to discuss them publicly.

Last night, Mr. Moniz, who is scheduled to appear before the commission today, seemed slightly hesitant to petition for a waiver, which he felt the Premier or the Commission should already have demanded.

But the dissident Government backbencher, a staunch opponent of Independence in the lead-up to the referendum, also told The Royal Gazette that his curiosity has been "piqued'' by the questions that some of the witnesses' refusal to tell all had raised.

"I will apply (for a waiver),'' he said, "but I'm not sure it's my place to do so. I would have thought that either the Premier or the commission itself would have done it. I'm just an officious bystander.'' Dr. Clarence Terceira, the former Minister of Education and another Independence opponent who will be testifying today, agreed that the commission should have petitioned for a waiver.

"I really thought that that was the first thing the commission would have done,'' said Dr. Terceira, who added that he had asked in his brief to the commission if the meeting's minutes would be subpoenaed.

Citing the same hesitation as Mr. Moniz, the former Minister said he didn't think it was "my position'' to pursue a subpoena himself.

In trumpeting the need yesterday for a fully open process, both Dr. Terceira and Mr. Moniz raised the question of how valuable the commission's final report would be if it continued to hear only "limited'' testimony.

"They (the commission members) were supposed to look into the reasons for the postponement of the referendum,'' said Mr. Moniz. "If they're not going to be given the tools to do their jobs properly, then that sort of undermines their whole position.'' Dr. Terceira even went so far as to suggest that the report might "lack credibility''.

Since the commission began hearing testimony last month, it has generally sidestepped the issue of Cabinet secrecy oaths by directing witnesses to speak on Cabinet decisions only or in some cases the discussions surrounding them.

But Mr. Georges, who will reconvene the commission at Wesley Methodist Church this morning, has said he is not interested in which Cabinet Minister said what.