conference or referendum on a new electoral system. But Government wants to keep open the possibility of "consultation with Bermuda'' on the size of the Cabinet and the Senate.

Effectively that means that Government is sticking to its position that only the Boundaries Commission and the House of Assembly should decide on the number and boundaries of single-seat constituencies.

And a minimum of three years absence from any partisan political activity, not five, should be sufficient to guarantee the independence of the Ombudsman, according to the ruling party.

Premier Jennifer Smith yesterday released Government's official position in two letters containing this and other comments, in response to the final draft proposal for constitutional reform submitted by the FCO team at the conclusion of last week's talks.

The letters show that Government and the FCO may not quite be seeing eye to eye on some aspects of the process of constitutional reform.

The FCO officials came up with two drafts during the four day meet.

The section on the Ombudsman was revised with a view to enhancing the independence of the office.

In its initial draft, the FCO retained Government's proposal which would have disqualified anyone who had been a Senator or an MP during the preceding three years.

The five year proposal was insisted upon by the United Bermuda Party which later held that independence of the office might be better served by disqualifying anyone who had ever held or stood for political office.

"We do not agree with the change from `three' years to `five' years,'' reads the Premier's letter to the Governor." We believe that this change, in a country as small as ours, unnecessarily limits the pool from which a possible Ombudsman can be selected. We believe that three years provides for the necessary distance from any partisan activity and ask that the first draft of this particular subsection be reinstated.'' In the same section, Government also wants to avoid confusion as to who is a political candidate by adding "confirmed'' in front of the word "candidate.'' The Government side also takes issue with including in the Constitution the Ombudsman's reporting requirements to the House and that office's powers to access documents to discharge its duties.

"We believe (the provisions) are more rightly contained in the subsequent legislation, rather than being entrenched in the Constitution,'' wrote the Premier.

Under the section dealing with Constituencies and the Boundaries Commission, Government wants amendments which would expedite the Order in Council giving constitutional force to the Boundaries Commission report on the number and boundaries of single seat constituencies and giving the Commission power to recommend future changes.

The Government's proposed amendments to the FCO draft also implies that a report from the House of Assembly on the Boundaries Commission report should be taken into account by the Order in Council.

And it insists that if the British Government wants to change the size of Cabinet after receiving the reports, it should do so after "consultation with Bermuda.'' The FCO version used said that the British government would "consider expeditiously with Bermuda'' the Order in Council.

It is understood that both the Opposition UBP and the Government questioned the meaning of the phrase "with Bermuda'' but received no definitive answer from the FCO team.

The Government's proposed amendments remove "vague'' references, said Attorney General Lois Browne Evans.

"It (the Government's preferred wording) means that once the Foreign and Commonwealth Office gets the report from the House of Assembly and the Boundaries Commission report, as far as we are concerned - that should be enough. They should put it into effect.'' She said that "consultation with Bermuda'' meant consulting with the Opposition and the Government.

Jennifer Smith