How Gibraltar voted and ·not voted·

international | politics / elections | news report Friday November 28, 2003 15:19 by checking your fingernails regularly - before you pick the snotty nose.

Yesterday the British Crown Dependency of Gibraltar went to the urns.

Your "on the case, trusty, to the point, sharpening the same, intrepid, commentater of all things concerning how spanish and english state structures and institutions do their thing" reports...

Peter Caruana has been elected again as Chief Minister of Gibraltar, with 11% lead over the GSLP/Liberal alliance.
Caruana's party GSD Gibraltar Social Democrats achieved 51% of the vote, the GSLP/Liberals getting 40%. The Labour party only got 8% and their leader (Daniel Feetham ) was the only candidate run who didn't lose his deposit.
The leader of the Reform Party, Lyana Armstrong Emery lost her deposit.
She started the year off as every issuing a nice new year's message in the Gib panorama as did _all_ the politicos down on the peninsula:
http://www.panorama.gi/archive/021230/views.htm#Lyana
Interesting mag have a look @ this whilst youu're there:
http://www.panorama.gi/archive/021230/updates.htm#'Prestige'

Now Mr Caruana, is world renowned and just short of "household name status" for threatening the British Government with "Unilateral Declarations of Independence" even if that's not exactly what he means, and not exactly what he says. But it's a reliable game, it's easy to play, and one may presume that the voters of Gibraltar who manage to garner a 60% on average attendance at the urns. Or "urnos" as the almost 50% spanish ethnic dwellers of the "Rock" call them. However, Gibraltar has been touched by the modern world, many times, as we remember, and as such has brought the dreadful almighty eye of scrutiny and chaos upon it's affairs on many occasions.
So it is not _too_ unpredicted to read Mr Caruana affirm: “The people of Gibraltar have recognised that the GSD Government has done a good job of looking after Gibraltar’s external affairs, but we also know that we have received a small electoral reprimand and wake up call which I fully accept in relation to some of our shortcomings and delays in housing and in eliminating some of the longstanding difficulties in the health service and I personally pledge to do both during the next four years. The GSD is the first political party that has won
three elections in Gibraltar with more than 50% of the electoral vote and we are the first political party that has won three elections in Gibraltar with all eight of its candidates topping the first eight positions in the poll.”
Mr Caruana also thanked “the army of political party activists” across the parties who could fight elections “in a spirit of friendship despite their political differences.”

Quite right. the basics.
houses - health - your old people - your young people - your new people - your education - and if you get round to stopping the hyperpower using you as a nuclear garbage drop zone, then go for it "plucky little Gibraltar"!

additional links:
http://www.chronicle.gi/
{might I add that I entered into correspondance with the Gib authorities for declaring that the accord between UK and España would leave "gibraltrans as squatters in their own home". As a result of which we _did_ clarify that there are neither "squatters" nor "okupes" in the British Crown Dependency of Gibraltar, and that the last were kicked off their site and out of the BCD of Gib, with undue force and unpredicted consequences. Feb 8-23 2002 HMG rep. Straw v. CDPHMG Caruana}