MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands: 'Yes' vote means 'we don’t want to be colonized by Argentina'

MLA Mike Summers “The vote was made and it was overwhelming”

A delegation from the Falkland Islands recently visited Jamaica as part of a tour of North America, Central American and Caribbean countries to inform about the referendum earlier this month which resulted in a resounding 'yes' with only three 'no' votes, leaving no doubt as to their wish to remain a British Overseas Territory.

“The vote was made and it was overwhelming,” Mike Summers, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) of the Falkland Islands, told Alicia Dunkley from the Jamaica Observer during a quick visit to Jamaica last week.

The decidedly placid atmosphere of the islands which are home to just over 3.000 people was, for the two days of the referendum, transformed, becoming “busy, active, electric and very un-Falkland-like” MLA Summers said.

“We had a huge turnout. It was 92% and in terms of the 'yes' vote it was 99.8%, which is not only very, very decisive, but perhaps even more decisive than we had anticipated,” he told the Sunday Observer.

The referendum, held over two days, Sunday, March 10 and Monday, March 11, was observed by some 60 international journalists and several reputable international observers.

“The initial finding of the observers’ mission was that the referendum was free and fair and held in accordance with international standards. A formal observer report should be out by the end of this week,” MLA Summers said.

Now that the vote has been cast, MLA Summers said the hope is that other countries will carry the message of the rights of the Falklanders to self-determination in different fora.

“At the United Nations we would hope that the countries, if they have the opportunity to speak on the issue, they would say just the same,” the MLA said.

Likewise MLA Summers countered arguments that the exercise was futile since there were British citizens voting to remain British under the guise of being Falkland citizens.

“We did have British people voting to remain British, but we do have people whose original nationalities were not British. I was born in the Falklands but I have British nationality which was extended to me whether I wanted or not. But there are lots of other people who live in the Falklands who came from either Chile, Australia or New Zealand who have become Falkland Islands status holders who also voted, and they are not all naturally British but they are Falkland Islanders,” he argued.

“The complaint that you had British people voting to remain British is only valid to the extent that we had the option to vote another way and could have voted another way, and by voting to remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom,” he added further.

“We retain the right to self-determination going forward, so we have the right to vote again at some other time on future developments. Whereas the alternative of being Argentine denies you the right to self-determination because the Argentine government says we don't exist, the people in the Falkland Islands do not have the right to determine their own future,” he said.

He also addressed criticisms that Falklanders votes were coloured by the fact that they wanted to retain British funding for HM armed forces which provides security for the Islanders.

“Falkland Islanders in casting their vote would have looked at all the issues and made a decision about what's in their best interest, and there is no doubt that at the present time and looking forward the defence commitment that provides a deterrent to some kind of future military activity is essential, and so in casting your vote you would have to give thought to what would happen if you were to vote 'no'” MLA Summers said.

“I think we had always known that almost nobody in the Falklands wishes to be colonised by Argentina and so any vote that was a 'no' vote was more likely to be a vote that we would like more independence, or more separation from the United Kingdom rather than going towards Argentina” the Falkland Islands MLA noted.

“Clearly, the defence issue is an important issue. It is one of the guarantees of the United Kingdom to all overseas territories that it will provide the necessary defence,” he added further.

Teslyn Barkman, a reporter with the Falkland Island's sole newspaper The Penguin News, was at pains to point out that the Islands were not Britain's Siamese twin.

“It's important to stress that we are not part of Great Britain. Great Britain does not own the Falklands they don't gain monetarily from the population. Falkland Islanders are very distinct, we aren't a colony of Britain and financially we are more than self-sufficient” the sixth- generation Falkland Islander said passionately.

Over 20 nationalities voted in the referendum, including Argentines, Chileans, Americans, Russians and Britons, all of whom have Falkland Islander status.

The article was written by the Jamaica Sunday Observer, Alicia Dunkley who is well informed on the Falklands because she recently spent time in the Falklands invited by the local government.