MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The importance of information technology for self determination

Gibraltar opposition spokesman Charles Bruzon told the Small Countries conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting in Fiji that one day all remaining British colonies shall take their place in the Commonwealth as fully self-governing territories.

Mr Bruzon addressed the conference on the impact of information technology and highlighted how important it has been in helping Overseas Territories keep abreast of diplomatic developments involving self determination.

He said that the Gibraltar opposition were fully supportive of the development of IT and he highlighted "the fact that much of the economic development of Gibraltar can be traced back to the then GSLP Government's decision to replace the antiquated telephone exchange".

This, he argued, had made possible the attraction of financial services and banking and laid the foundation for an expansion in the presence of gaming companies.

Mr Bruzon went on to stress the importance of instant access to information to colonial territories in general and to Gibraltar in particular.

"This has made a huge difference to our ability to keep abreast of developments at the United Nations in our struggle for decolonisation and the exercise of the right to self-determination" he told the conference.

Charles Bruzon explained that before these developments in IT Gibraltar had to rely entirely on the information that it could extract from the United Kingdom's Foreign Office which was usually too little too late to be of much use in pursuing opportunities to advance Gibraltar's cause and counteract Spain's campaign.

Mr Bruzon concluded by saying for the remaining colonies to take their place in the Commonwealth of nations, all their peoples would have had to exercise their right to self-determination by selecting one of the options provided for by the United Nations.

"I have no doubt," he declared, "that those of us that are still colonies can speak to those that have emerged from colonialism in the knowledge that our sentiments and aspirations are shared by those who have preceded us and that we can count on their support."

Gibraltar-UK Constitutional talks this week

The second round of constitutional reform talks between the United Kingdom government and the Gibraltar delegation are scheduled for September15 and 16. The talks hosted by the Gibraltar Government will be with the British team of officials to be led by senior diplomat Dominic Chilcott.

The Gibraltar team is to be headed by Chief Minister Peter Caruana and includes Government Minister Bernard Linares, Chief Secretary Ernest Montado, Leader of the Opposition Joe Bossano and elected member Dr Joseph Garcia, leader of the Liberal Party. Also included are Daniel Feetham, Adolfo Canepa, Peter Isola and Keith Azopardi.

The first round of talks between Gibraltar and the UK took place early last December in Lancaster House, London. The discussions remained confidential to both sides.

On their return last year the Gibraltar delegation expressed satisfaction with the progress that had been made.

"UK officials have generally given a positive and sympathetic response to the proposals which have been tabled by the Gibraltar delegation although agreement on the UK side will ultimately require Ministerial approval," said a statement at the time.