spokesman.

A proposal for Parliamentary recall should have been included in Government's collection of position papers on Independence, Mr. Graeme Outerbridge told The Royal Gazette .

Having such a clause in the Constitution would help assure that MPs were "much more in tune with arguing the views of their constituents'', Mr.

Outerbridge said.

Currently, there was no mechanism to assure accountability between general elections, which must only be held every five years.

A mechanism for recalling MPs "puts the power back to the people'', he said.

The NLP -- which has no MPs in the 40-seat House of Assembly -- has yet to map out its recall plan in detail, Mr. Outerbridge said.

But he felt Bermuda could look at American models for recalling members of Congress.

Mr. Outerbridge felt that if there was a recall clause in the Constitution today, voters in Paget East would have already recalled Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan, who represents the constituency along with Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons.

While the governing United Bermuda Party has no position for or against Independence, the Premier's pro-Independence views have angered many of his constituents, he said.

An Independence referendum is set for August 15, and Government's position papers set out its views on how Bermuda would be governed if voters should opt to go Independent.

Mr. Outerbridge said he felt MPs should vote the way their constituents wish, even conscience votes like capital punishment and abortion.

Asked if voters should have been able to recall MPs who did not reflect the views of their constituents when they voted last year on the bill to decriminalise gay sex, Mr. Outerbridge said he felt they should.

Mr. Graeme Outerbridge