Gibraltar approves new constitution

What was originally expected to be a simple walkover has turned into a major divide, with the Government Social Democrat party (GSD), led by Chief Minister Peter Caruana, pressing for adoption of the constitution, and a number of minor players banding together to campaign to reject the constitution.

The result announced just before 1am today (Friday) by Dennis Reyes, the returning officer was a clear win for those in favour of the new constitution. From a total of 20,061, some 12,117 voted, which represented 60.4%. The Yes vote was 60.24% and the No count at 37.75%. Welcoming the result, Chief Minister, Peter Caruana said it was not a victory just for his party, but for the whole of Gibraltar.

The Opposition, who formed part of the committee which negotiated and approved the constitution, has done a swift U-turn on supporting it and have taken a position of sitting on the fence, urging people to vote, but not providing any political leadership.

The influential Voice of Gibraltar Group, which spearheaded the 'NO' campaign in the previous referendum which rejected the unpopular joint sovereignty proposals, has also been urging people to vote, but has not aligned itself with either side although it has been sympathetic to the Government position.

Two front line members of the new Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) resigned as they felt they could not support its policy of backing the new constitution.

Earlier in the week there was some controversy regarding coverage by the local TV station, the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation, with calls for its chairman to resign. GBC television covered the count live, with video streaming on the Internet, sponsored by local Internet service provider Gibtelecom. This proved very popular and next time they will provide more bandwidth. Photo:Chief Minister Peter Caruana giving speech accepting result.

by Jim Watt - Gibraltar Gibnews.net