GIBRALTAR today Letters

In praise of women

Dear Sir 

Lord Archer is out of prison. Lord or no Lord he deserved a custodial sentence for perjury. Mr. Profumo at 89 is still suffering mental anguish, far more than he deserves, for a sexual indiscretion with a prostitute. He lied to Parliament to protect his wife and child.

It may not be well-known that he was awarded the military OBE and ended a brigadier at the age of 30. Mrs. Archer is and the late Mrs. Profumo was great women.

When their husbands fell down they gave them a hand to lift them up. This is woman's virtue at its best.

Sincerely,

John Sciacaluga

One-party state

Dear Sir,

A certain party has spoken in favour of an electoral system which means that if one party gets all the votes, or most of them, Gibraltar would become a one-party state.

Although the present system may not be perfect, it is better than one that could lead to a one-party state, don't you agree lady reformist?

T. Omate

Why not House of Commons?

Dear Sir

Gibraltarians have been given the right to vote in European Elections as part of the South West of England Euro-constituency. Would it not also be logical to allow them to vote in elections to the House of Commons? There are several European precedents for such a move: French overseas territories, for example, have long had representation in the National Assembly in Paris. 

There is no doubt that the people of Gibraltar are loyal subjects of the British Crown.

The Rock has been British for three centuries (the tercentenary is in 2004) and in last November’s referendum 98.9% of Gibraltarians voted to stay British. 

The British Government’s ill-conceived proposal to share sovereignty with Spain has now, rightly, been declared “dead in the water” by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

Giving the Gibraltarians proper representation at Westminster, as well as Strasbourg, would acknowledge their loyalty to Britain, and stave off any future threats to the Rock’s Britishness.

Yours faithfully,

Andy Smith

Official Observer, Gibraltar Referendum 2002)
Epsom, Surrey

Support for South-West

Dear Sirs,

May we put on formal record that The Liberal Party of The UK, along with the Independent Liberal Forum of Gibraltar, support the proposal that the residents of Gibraltar have the opportunity to elect their Euro MP’s as part of The South West Constituency of the UK.

We believe that the social, commercial and political diversity of the South West would make it the most appropriate constituency to give the residents of Gibraltar effective representation.

We believe that if Gibraltar was attached to the London constituency that its interests would be neglected with the conurbation having an overwhelming size and potentially conflicting interests.

Please feel welcome to enter our submission on the public record.

Regards

Cllr Steve Radford

Chairman of The Liberal Party

Electoral reform

Sir,

The present voting system in Gibraltar is distorting and potentially undemocratic.

Often, the number of seats a Party obtains in an election bears no relation to its proportion of support across Gibraltar. 

The leading Party, however popular, can not get more than 8 out of 15 seats, even if it had 80 or 90% support. 

The second Party, however unpopular, can not get less than 7 out of 15 seats, even if it had only 10 or 20% support. In theory of course, electors cast their eight votes for individuals; In practice the vast majority just ‘block vote’ for their favourite party label.

1. All House of Assembly elections to be conducted by Proportional Representation percentage methods. Each voter with a single vote, applied to a Party or Independent name on the ballot paper. 

Votes counted and allocated on a percentage basis so that (say) twenty percent of the vote would mean a party obtaining twenty percent of the seats.

2. Actual individuals elected would be in order of preference, from the top down, taken from the pre-published list of candidates for each contesting party.

3. This system is similar to the European elections voting method used by the UK which Gibraltarians will experience next year.

4. Voting age for all elections to be 16.

5. The whole of Gibraltar to be retained as one voting area.

6. As a longer term additional measure the Reform Party would propose an increased number of elected seats. 

This would require implementation by the U.K. as opposed to changing the voting system which could be done locally.

Reform Party

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