Gib Liberals Hit Out At Straw

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

08 August 2002

The leader of Gibraltar's Liberal Party, Dr Joseph Garcia this week hit out at UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, accusing him of 'riding roughshod' over the feelings and needs of Gibraltarians.

In a statement outlining the Liberal party's position on Peter Caruana's referendum plans with regard to the partial Anglo-Spanish agreement over sovereignty, Dr Garcia mocked the UK Labour party's claims to an ethical foreign policy, arguing that their actions over the Gibraltar dispute clearly negate this.

The Liberal leader also observed that the British authorities' refusal to accept the results of the forthcoming referendum represents a 'glaring democratic deficit', and cited the Charter of the United Nations and International Court of Justice rulings which state that the self-determination rights of a colonial people must take precedence over third-party territorial claims.

In his response to a consultation letter sent by Peter Caruana to all political parties in Gibraltar, Dr Garcia urged the Chief Minister to make the actual date for the planned referendum in Gibraltar known soon, in order to allow Gibraltarian citizens needing to make travel, business, or medical arrangements to attend and vote.

It appears that the current crisis has united policians across the political spectrum. The leader of the Labour Party, Joe Bossano recently urged the government to recall parliament in order to demonstrate a united front to the British and Spanish authorities on this issue.

'As leader of the house, Mr Caruana should recall our Parliament and we should carry a strongly worded motion rejecting any sovereignty concessions with Spain agreed beforehand by consensus. The meeting should be just for this purpose with no other business, to show a united front against the Straw proposals and we should do this without delay,' he suggested in a statement released last week.

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