MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar questions Straw-Caruana meeting

The Gibraltar opposition has expressed astonishment at the revelation that Chief Minister Peter Caruana will be seeking an informal reaction from Mr Straw to the constitutional proposals without the Opposition.

Leader Joe Bossano said this was the case notwithstanding an amendment to a motion in the House of Assembly which the Opposition supported and would have allowed for their involvement. "The Opposition is astonished at the revelation by the Chief Minister that he had proposed in his original letter to Jack Straw of 22 December that there should be an informal meeting between the two of them to discuss the constitutional proposals and the way forward. This is all the more surprising because the Chief Minister told the House of Assembly only a few weeks ago that no decision had been taken on how to proceed", said a GSLP/liberal spokesperson. "In the House of Assembly last month, Mr Caruana was asked by Opposition Leader Joe Bossano whether the Government had taken a policy decision on how it intended to proceed with regards to the establishment of a process of negotiation with HMG to agree a new Constitution for Gibraltar. Mr Caruana replied that no policy decision had been taken and added that he hoped to invite the Opposition to have tea or coffee in order to discuss this very issue ahead of government making a decision." "In his reply to the above question, we believe that Mr Caruana should have informed the House that he had written to Jack Straw suggesting that the two men should meet informally to discuss the proposals and the way forward. He could always have added that he had at the time not yet had confirmation whether Jack Straw would agree to this. It seems that we have in fact only got to know about it at this point in time because the Government has reacted to Straw's statement last Friday and the Opposition reaction welcoming the statement." "When the previous House of Assembly adopted the new constitution in February 2002, the motion which had been tabled by Mr Caruana, included a clause which read "...and calls upon the Government to initiate the appropriate discussions with Her Majesty's Government in the UK in relation to the modernisation of Gibraltar's Constitution regulating the Constitutional relationship between UK and Gibraltar in accordance with the recommendations in the Report." Voting in favour of this would have meant that the Government would take the new constitution forward alone with Opposition support but without its involvement." "When this was pointed out during the debate, the motion was amended, the offending words were removed and the Opposition was able to support the motion which was unanimously carried by the House. "At the time Mr Caruana argued that his intentions were being misinterpreted and that the Government was keeping all options open on how to proceed on which a decision had not yet been taken. The question tabled a few weeks ago was to find out whether after thinking about it for nearly two years the Government had decided what the next step should be." "The information now made public suggests that a decision was taken last December and that the Government will be seeking an informal reaction from Mr Straw to the constitutional proposals on its own and without the support of the Opposition".

Spanish dimension implicit in Straw's statement

Gibraltar Government has said that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's (*) statement pointing to Britain's circumstances and international context in relation to the Rock's constitutional position refers exactly to the Spanish dimension. In an official statement Chief Minister Peter Caruana says that the Opposition's contrary assessment is "unduly optimistic". Mr Caruana said: "However, the Government agrees with the Opposition that Spain should have no role or effect in deciding or influencing the bilateral constitutional relationship between the UK and Gibraltar." Meanwhile in response to GSLP/Lib criticisms, Mr Caruana also stated that the Gibraltar Government does not accept any obligation to publicly disclose "every item of correspondence it exchanges with HMG on this or any other issue." A Gibraltar Government spokesman said: "The Government notes the contents of Mr Straw's statement to Parliament in relation to Gibraltar's Constitutional Reform proposals. The Government welcomes Mr Straw's commitment to "the further development of a modern and appropriate relationship with Gibraltar". The Gibraltar Government fully understands and accepts that, given our constitutional links with the UK, the constitution must continue to provide the UK with appropriate mechanisms to protect its legitimate rights, interests and responsibilities in the context of its international responsibility for Gibraltar. The Proposals themselves acknowledge and accommodate this."

Good Governance

"As to "good governance", the underlying principle of democracy is that "good governance" is judged by the electorate that removes governments from office when their standard of Governance falls below the required standard. This is what happens in Gibraltar, as well as in the UK. Colonial mechanisms do not need to be perpetuated to achieve this basic democratic function." "When the Chief Minister submitted the proposals formally to Mr Straw on 22nd December 2003, the Chief Minister suggested to Mr Straw that the two men should meet informally to discuss the proposals and the way forward. Mr Straw has welcomed that suggestion but a date has not yet been arranged for such a meeting." "Mr Straw has not responded to or commented upon the proposals. The Chief Minister received a letter from him on 4th February, acknowledging receipt of the proposals, assuring the Chief Minister that they will receive the most careful consideration and welcoming the Chief Minister's suggestion that the two should meet."

No obligation to disclosure

"The Government does not understand the Opposition's observation that the Chief Minister had given no indication at the recent Question time in the House of Assembly about Mr Straw's letter. Question time was on 14th January, over two weeks before Mr Straw's letter. Nor does Government accept any obligation to publicly disclose every item of correspondence it exchanges with HMG on this or any other issue." "The Government does not share the Oppositions' assessment that Mr Straw's reference to taking into account, "Gibraltar's particular circumstances and the wider international context" should not be read as a reference to the Spanish dimension. Government believes that that is exactly what it refers to, and that the Opposition's assessment is unduly optimistic. However, the Government agrees with the Opposition that Spain should have no role or effect in deciding or influencing the bilateral constitutional relationship between the UK and Gibraltar." "Finally, the Opposition frequently refers to the Tercentenary as the 300th anniversary of "our liberation from Spanish rule." In the Government's view this is factually nonsensical and politically unhelpful to Gibraltar. At the very heart of Gibraltar's case for self determination lies precisely the fact that the current people of Gibraltar and their ancestors have never been under Spanish rule. This is the opposite of the suggestion that we have been "liberated from Spanish rule." If the people of Gibraltar had been "liberated from Spanish rule" the Spanish case would have more merit than it actually has and more merit than Mr Bossano would like it to have. Greater care needs to be taken when selecting political sound bites."

(*) The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Jack Straw) addressing Parliament February 6:

"The Chief Minister of Gibraltar wrote to me on 22 December, formally tabling proposals for reform of the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution. I have replied, acknowledging the importance of these proposals to Gibraltar, and saying that they will receive the most careful consideration. I expect to meet the Chief Minister soon for an initial discussion. The cornerstone of our policy towards Gibraltar remains the sovereignty commitment, that the UK Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes. Whatever the outcome of the present proposals, that position will not change. The starting point for consideration of these proposals is the Government's general policy towards the UK's relations with our Overseas Territories, as set out in the 1999 White Paper, "Partnership for Progress and Prosperity: Britain and the Overseas Territories" (Cm 4264). As my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Rammell) said in his written statement of 18 December 2003, Official Report, cols 151WS?152WS, the security and good governance of the overseas territories remains a key foreign policy objective for this Government. While the people of Gibraltar wish to remain British, it is essential that there should be an appropriate balance of powers as between the UK and Gibraltar. While we recognise the aspiration of the people of Gibraltar to manage more of their own affairs, the UK Government must have sufficient and effective powers to protect its overall responsibility for ensuring good governance; compliance with international obligations; and minimisation of contingent liabilities. An assessment of the powers required by the UK Government to deliver a balanced and modern relationship must, in particular, take full account of the fact that the UK is responsible for Gibraltar's compliance with EU law, including ultimately before the European Court of Justice and, in considering the constitutional relationship between the UK and Gibraltar, HMG will take account of Gibraltar's particular circumstances and the wider international context. This Government will therefore study the proposals put forward by the Gibraltar Government, and looks forward to discussion of them in due course, with a view to the further development of a modern and appropriate relationship with Gibraltar".

Opposition welcomes Foreign Office document

Gibraltar opposition reacted positively to the presentation in British Parliament by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of the Autumn Performance Report for 2003 of his department (*). A GSLP/Liberal spokesman said: "This lists the objectives of the Foreign Office for the year and shows how they are doing in meeting the targets set". "Objective number seven is "Secure and well-governed British overseas territories enjoying sustainable development and growing prosperity." In that context, in respect of the target of "governance", the objective listed shows that modernisation of all the existing colonies except Gibraltar and Pitcairn is targeted by the year 2006. It is intended to modernise two of the constitutions by March of this year and the other six by March 2005" "The Opposition welcomes the fact that Gibraltar is excluded since in Gibraltar's case the target which has been submitted to London by both sides of the House of Assembly is the achievement of a new non-colonial relationship and not a modernised colonial one. It is interesting that the only territory other than Gibraltar to have been excluded is Pitcairn which is the first British colonial territory being looked at by the Committee of 24 with a view to decolonisation and delisting. The Opposition has been pressing at the United Nations for Gibraltar to be the next such territory to be looked at."

(*) FCO Objective 7: Secure and well-governed British Overseas Territories enjoying sustainable development and growing prosperity.

PSA 11. Improvement in the governance, environment and security of the OTs, and more diversified economic development, as measured by implementation of the commitments in the 1999 White Paper "Partnership for Progress and Prosperity: Britain and the Overseas Territories" (Cm 4264). Progress against this target will be measured using the following scoreboards (agreed between FCO and HMT) covering the four elements of the target: (a) Governance; (b) Environment; (c) Security; (d) Economic development.: a) Governance: Modernization by 2006 of the constitutions of all populated Territories (except Gibraltar and Pictorin) ? 2 by March 2004, 6 by March 2005. b) Environment: Improvement in OT participation in key multilateral environmental agreements by securing the extension by 2006 of CITES Anguilla and TCI, of the Convention on Biological Diversity to Bermuda and the Falkland Islands, and of the SPAW Protocol to all the Caribbean Overseas Territories, COTs. c) Security: Disaster management plans agreed for three OTs by the end of 2003/04 and for ten OTs by the end of 2004/05. d) Economic Development: Agree borrowing guidelines in all COTs by 2004/5 and develop new strategic plans in all COTs, Falklands and St. Helena by 2006 in order to improve financial planning and budgetary discipline.

Overview: Good progress made across a range of areas, especially contingency planning.

Specific Progress: Constitutional reviews are underway in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, St. Helena and the Turks and Caicos islands. CITES progress has been made and draft legislation is in hand. HMG OT Disaster Management Adviser appointed until autumn 2004. Work in hand to assist and encourage the application of minimum standards and common planning processes across all the OTs. Disaster plans in place in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat and St. Helena. Strategic Country Programme (SCP) talks held in Anguilla in March 2003. Country Policy Programme CPP talks scheduled for March 2003 on Montserrat postponed until January 2004. We are currently undertaking a review of the SCP/CPP process, which will focus on how HMG can have a legitimate input into OT strategic plans, decisions on this will take into account discussion at the December Overseas Territories Consultative Council.