MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar's Constitution referendum November 30

A referendum to decide whether Gibraltar accepts or rejects the new Constitution is to be held on November 30.

That is the proposition contained in a motion tabled by Chief Minister Peter Caruana for the next session of the House of Assembly which opens Friday, reports The Gibraltar Chronicle.

An estimated 20,000 local residents will be eligible to vote and the Gibraltar Government is urging all those citizens to exercise, what it asserts is their right to self-determination, through a vote.

The new constitution is the result of the proposals drafted by a Select Committee of the House and then negotiated with Britain by a group of leading local parliamentarians and political figures.

The motion makes a point of stating -both in its own wording and that of the referendum question- that the referendum will be an exercise of self-determination. It also emphasizes that the referendum takes place with the United Kingdom recognising that Gibraltar does not accept Britain's position as regards the Treaty of Utrecht which is that this treaty imposes a constraint on Gibraltar's self-determination.

The motion notes the statements by the British Government, made in Gibraltar, in the House of Commons and in the United Nations, that this new draft constitution provides for a modern and mature relationship between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, which description would not in the British Government's view apply to any relationship based on colonialism.

Additionally it notes statements made by the British Government publicly, in Gibraltar, in the House of Commons and in the United Nations, that the referendum in which the draft new constitution is put to the people of Gibraltar for their decision, will be an exercise of the right of self determination by the people of Gibraltar.

The question to be posed in the referendum is: "In exercise of your right to self-determination, do you approve and accept the proposed new Constitution for Gibraltar?" YES NO.