LONDON/GIBRALTAR, 27 July — Gibraltar’s decision to hold a referendum on its future has unleashed a political storm in the colony where relations with Britain have hit rock-bottom over its plan to share sovereignty with Spain. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana said yesterday he was determined to move ahead with a referendum to challenge London’s plan to give Spain a say in the affairs of the British colony.
"People in Gibraltar do not want joint sovereignty, but despite this opposition to it, the British government has agreed this principle with Spain," he said.
The British government dismissed Gibraltar’s plans to organize the referendum on the colony’s future, saying it would have no effect on an eventual agreement with Spain. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in London the proposed referendum was "a rather eccentric, rather expensive idea to tell us what we knew already".
An earlier Foreign Office statement rejected the plan for a referendum, accusing the Gibraltar authorities of preparing a vote to "short-circuit democracy and short-change the people of Gibraltar".
Gibraltar opposition leaders complain that Caruana has kept them in the dark and that he has failed to persuade London of Gibraltar’s right to remain a colony. Opposition leader Joe Bossano nevertheless said he will be campaigning in the referendum for a "no" vote to the sovereignty deal with Spain.
Liberal Party leader Joseph Garcia said the referendum will underscore Gibraltar’s right to self-determination. "This is an issue of 30,000 British citizens being allowed to freely and democratically decide what they want for themselves. The wishes of the people must be paramount," he said.
There is widespread support in Gibraltar for the opportunity to vote on the sovereignty issue, while Britain is at the receiving end for having opposed the referendum. "What we would not recognize is a referendum simply to reject the British government’s policy without any thought, discussion or time for proper debate," said a Foreign Office spokesman in London after the referendum was announced Thursday.
Between now and late October, when the referendum is due, the Gibraltar government will be deciding on the question to be asked, on who will be eligible to vote and on the international observers that would be invited to oversee the referendum.
Talks between Spanish and British foreign ministers are due to resume in September, just as the campaigning for the October referendum gets into full swing. (The Independent)
