MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands voters send a clear message

Gilbert House is ready to receive new tenants

The Falkland Islands election of 5 November presented a clear and stark message. The tiny electorate was fed up with those whom they felt represented them in a cavalier fashion over recent years, and they were being punished.

Not one of the old council survived the cull. Through the ballot box, people said they were fed up with the men and women who decided almost everything, from parochial domestic issues, through the multi-million pound budget and administration, to foreign relations. As a result, the Islands are now facing one of their most interesting political periods for many years.

The election results show that the old days of councillors assuming adequate consultation meant no more than occasional public meetings in drafty halls are over. Now, the electorate expects their leaders to be good communicators who are up to speed with the latest technology and transparent in their work. Even in the Falklands, the information revolution has changed the way people think. They expect to be informed, consulted, kept in the picture and listened to.

As is the way with hubris, it brought the old guard down. They thought they could operate in isolation while they made major decisions about controversial expenditure (the ferry and the abattoir come to mind). They also thought they could give the green light to a Chief Executive who had obvious disdain for the local system of administration and the local people who had staffed it, an had begun introducing new appointments which – according to the views of many in Stanley – heralded a return to the old days of colonial rule.

Now it seems likely that eight new sets of eyes will go over recent major items of expenditure and the plan to change the government system. They may well indicate displeasure. That would be interesting, to say the least. However, they will have to be strong. There are some local government virgins in the new council, and some others whom the senior administrators will consider light-weights. They will attempt to baffle and scare these councillors with management-speak and dire warnings.

The old guard lost because they did not show adequate respect for the electorate. So the new councillors need to learn that lesson, and start blogging, twittering, facebooking, and running websites that keep the voters up to date and allow a two-way flow of views. On-line opinion polls should be embraced. If the newcomers don’t see that people expect a more interactive government, they too will eventually be given their marching orders.

However, nothing changes the only real foreign policy issue – Argentina. Islanders see themselves as tolerant and cooperative with that country to a certain extent, and such issues of Argentine next of kin visits are not particularly controversial. But when it comes to the sovereignty issue, the line in the sand remains clear: no negotiations.

By Graham Bound – London