night as more than 200 supporters packed into the Leopards Club.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade put forward his case why a party that supports Independence for Bermuda should stay away from a plebiscite on the issue expected this summer.

The vast majority of those in attendance responded positively. "I'm 60 years old and I want to see it in my lifetime,'' Mr. Carlton Askia said from the floor. "But I've had (the boycott) clearly explained to me by our leader and I'm thankful that I came.'' Mr. Wade outlined 50 years of electoral reform in Bermuda and said the Island was still left with a situation in which the United Bermuda Party went into general election campaigns "guaranteed'' 16 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly, due to double-seat constituencies and unfair electoral boundaries.

He said that gains like the removal of the "plus'' vote for property owners and the addition of four seats to Pembroke Parish were offset by allowing some non-Bermudians to vote and by increasing the total number of seats in the House to 40 from 36.

Each time the United Kingdom was asked for an end to parish-based electoral boundaries or the foreign vote it sided with the UBP Government against the PLP, Mr. Wade said.

"We have been to the conference table,'' he said. "We have compromised. We have negotiated. We have trusted these people. We have worked with them. We have fought eight elections and lost. We know the system is wrong.'' Government would not be bound by position papers it would issue prior to the referendum, Mr. Wade said. Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan wanted "a blank cheque'' to take Bermuda to Independence and entrench the present system.

If that was achieved, a two-thirds Parliamentary majority, plus a referendum would be needed to pass a Constitutional amendment and change the electoral system, Mr. Wade said.

Mr. Walton Brown of the Committee for the Independence of Bermuda had called on the PLP leadership to sit down with Sir John and compromise on Independence. But Mr. Wade said that was impossible because the UBP had no position on the issue and Sir John had no power to negotiate.

Not all of those in attendance were convinced. "I may go with you on this one,'' said one man, but "I don't want anyone jacking with me if I make a `yes' vote. I have more confidence in the people than in a Westminster system.''