The United States 115th Congress has tabled resolution 650 recognizing the results of the free and fair elections for the new Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands held on 9 November 2017. The resolution, 650, was submitted last week by Representatives Mario Diaz Balart, Derek Kilmer and George Holding, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Falkland Islands Government and Workboat Service Ltd, WSL, the company which owns the ferry linking East and West Falkland, have informed that the service will be suspended for an estimated two weeks next month, because the Concordia Bay has to undergo maintenance repairs in Punta Arenas.
The Royal Navy has deployed ice patrol ship HMS Protector to help search for an Argentine submarine that went missing in the South Atlantic with 44 people on board. Contact with the Argentine military sub ARA San Juan was lost three days ago, Wednesday.
The new Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands has been announced, following the General Election which concluded on Thursday 9th November.
By John Fowler - At the time of going to press, so far sixteen brave or foolhardy souls have declared their candidature for the General Election. This is one more than in 2013 and may be the most ever. With an average age of less than fifty years this group is almost certainly the youngest. Gone, it would seem, are the days when only the wealthy, retired, unemployed, or possibly unemployable old were available to stand.
The Falkland Islands Government, FIG, has made a statement regarding the recent publication of the Telecoms Regulator’s report in relation to the performance of Sure, in respect of the broadband service, particularly its compensation methodology when customer satisfaction has not been delivered.
James Wilson is the new Financial Secretary within the Falkland Islands Government. A position some think is the equivalent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK Government. There are, however, some major differences: James is not a politician but a civil servant.
The Argentine embassy met with officials from the Uruguayan Rural Association, ARU, to express their disappointment since the Falkland Islands have a stand at the Great Britain pavilion in the Prado agro-industry show in Montevideo, according to a report from Television Nacional, which belongs to the Uruguayan government media complex.
The Falkland Islands General Election is planned to take place on the November 9, “and the Registrar General has the necessary preparations in hand,” announced Member of Legislative Assembly Michael Poole at Thursday’s meeting of Legislative Assembly.
Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated the UK Government’s strong and wholehearted support for the Falkland Islands right to self-determination and underlined UK is seeking a more productive relation with Argentina but cautioned that the full potential of the relationship depends on Buenos Aires meeting the public commitments of the September 2016 joint communiqué.