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The Liberal Democratic Party at its annual conference has voted down a motion calling for a referendum on the right of the people to choose their own head of state. Party leader Charles Kennedy had opposed the motion on the grounds that other issues were more urgent.

Some speakers at the conference said that opposition to the feudal institution of monarchy would be used against the party by newspapers and the Labour Party. However, deputy party leader Menzies Campbell told the BBC that he would prefer a hereditary head of state as long as the monarch was less ostentatious than at present.

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The constitutional affairs secretary has announced that the government will propose legislation to remove the remaining 92 hereditary legislators from Parliament. New legislators-for-life will continue to be appointed however, under the supervision of a statutory commission.

The conservative party leader in the House of Lords threatened a "major fight" against the reform. Legislators-for-life from other parties also protested that their power would be weakened if all members of the second chamber were appointed.

The legislation will also provide for legislators-for-life who are convicted of a criminal offence to be removed from office by the state. There is no mechanism for the people to remove them from the legislature under any circumstances.

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Jamaican prime minister P J Patterson has called for his country to become a republic within the next few years. Currently Jamaica recognises` British queen Elizabeth Windsor as its head of state.

Mr. Patterson was speaking at a conference of his People's National Party. The opposition Labour Party also supports the reform of Jamaica's constitution needed to dump Windsor. Jamaican legislators stopped swearing allegiance to Britain's hereditary head of state last year.

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Terrence Burns, a legislator-for-life, has been appointed by culture and sports minister Tessa Jowell as an adviser on the future of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). According to the Financial Times he will set up a panel of experts to make recommendations about the renewal of the charter that allows the broadcasting giant to function as a public service. The charter will expire in 2006.

Mr. Burns was formerly a senior civil servant and is now chairperson of the Abbey National bank. Ms. Jowell once described the BBC as one of Britain's most loved and trusted institutions. She said that the government had not prejudged whether the charter, which allowed the BBC to collect £2.6bn annually from television and VCR owners, will be renewed.

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Opposition to the absolute monarchy in Swaziland has shown a marked increase this year, according to the New York Times. In August a three-day trade union protest blocked a border crossing with South Africa. And the Swaziland Youth Congress has called for armed conflict.

Observers attribute the increased opposition to king Mswati to the economic problems, a low life expectancy caused by HIV infection and Mr. Mswati's behaviour. Unemployment is over 40 percent and two in three people are in poverty. Swaziland has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. The king expects Swazis to get on their knees to speak to him, overrules court decisions and spends lavishly. According to the Times he recently "spirited to royal quarters" an 18-year-old school student he wished to have as an additional wife.

Opposition to the monarchy has been banned for 30 years. Journalists have been arrested or harassed for criticising the monarchy.

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