Nov 30 – Fabian Picardo’s Election Winner’s Speech

Written by YGTV Team on 30 November 2015.

Here is the full text of the speech given by Fabian Picardo on Friday morning following the GSLP-Libs’ election win.

Ladies & Gentlemen.

Good morning.

Today we have once again enjoyed a traditional Gibraltarian political feast.

A peaceful festival of democracy which is the hallmark of the way we do elections in Gibraltar.

Before I say anything else, let me thank the Returning Officer and his team for the excellent way in which the election has been handled yesterday and today.

I want to thank all Civil Servants for their work in the past twenty four hours.

And I want to also thank all the Public Servants of Gibraltar for their work with us in the past four years.

I am looking forward to working again with our fantastic Civil Servants and wider Public Sector workers for the next four years.

To all the staff of Parliament my sincere thanks.

To the journalists that are getting the message out to people at home and to Gibraltarians around the world, thank you also.

And to those from the Royal Gibraltar Police who have been involved in the security of the election, thank you also.

I have seen the Commissioner himself also taking an interest and leading from the front around polling stations in Gibraltar today.

I have seen all ranks out working to keep us all safe on this special day.

I also want to single out our Taxi Drivers.

They have been the butt of campaign criticisms in the past four weeks from some.

But they are the transport of choice of our ballots, the chariots of our democracy at election time.

And a general thank you to all who have been involved in the mechanics of the election.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

This is the first election since 2003 that our parties have a clear stretch of votes between us.

No one of our opponents has broken into our block votes.

That has happened because this result has not been nurtured over four weeks.

We did not just win this election in this campaign

We won this election and this huge majority through our service to our people every day of the last four years.

And today I pledge to you that every day of the next for years will also be devoted entirely to the most humble service of our people.

Because our reaction to this result is HUMILITY, HUMILITY, HUMILITY.

The fact is that politics done properly is a serious business.

It requires serious work and serious effort.

Neither the untrue and reckless spectre of potential terrorism.

Nor the untrue spectre of potential bankruptcy.

Have been able to skew the clear vision of the people of Gibraltar of the serious work we have done these past four years.

But let me be clear:

The rate of abstention is irrelevant by international standards.

But it is worrying by Gibraltar standards.

We must all consider carefully why the number of people not attending the call to vote has been so high.

For the GSLP part of our Alliance, this result is the best birthday present on the eve of our fortieth birthday next year.

Together with our colleagues in the Liberal Party we have a great opportunity ahead of us.

We have the moral authority of representing such a massive majority of people.

We have the satisfaction of having grown our majority from just 2% to almost 40%

That reality is tempered with the knowledge that this strong mandate puts a greater burden of responsibility on us all.

The huge defeat we have inflicted on our opponents will not delude us in any way.

Nor does it prevent us from offering our hand of friendship across the political divide.

Once again, I offer the olive branch in the hope that this time it will be accepted.

As we face the responsibility of this Tsunami of support, I will not tolerate arrogance in our ranks.

The fact is that our manifesto for this election is now not just a proposal.

It is the blueprint for the next four years of Government.

The socio-economic foundations of our Nation will be further cemented with this result, with this plan, with this government.

In our past four years we have been true to our word to govern for all of Gibraltar.

We will once again govern for all of Gibraltar and never just for a chosen few.

In doing so, in the past for years we have turned foes into friends

We have turned old rivals into new colleagues. And those who stood against us now stand up for us.

And that is how we have garnered the highest number of votes ever in the history of our democracy.

We have broken the 10,000 vote barrier.

We have reaped the second highest percentage of the vote ever.

Second only, of course, to the record breaking result of the GSLP in 1992.

That historic team is one to which we are happy to come second.

As a party, we erred last time that we were the recipients of such great confidence by our people.

We will not err this time.

We will not make the same mistakes again.

We are humbled by this victory and will not be bloated by it.

This result requires us to remember every day that the people are our masters and we are the servants of this nation.

The higher our vote, the greater our call to service.

But I will also tell you this.

In the course of this campaign, honest men have had their good names called into question.

We will set the record straight to ensure that their reputations are not in any way besmirched by the cruelly misleading statements made in these past weeks.

So, dear friends, what does the result this morning tell us?

It tells us that fear becomes a blunt weapon when confronted by the aspirations and ambitions of a Nation of good people with truth in their hearts.

Hard work is recognised. We have worked to join communities not divide them.

Our honest work with worker's organisations such as UNITE and employers’ organisations is recognised.

Spin and argument cannot defeat the successful brilliantly reality which surrounds us.

Those who use scare tactics scare people away from themselves instead of drawing them in.

For us, once again, I pledge that there will be no night of long knives after today.

The only weapon we will wield in coming weeks, months and years will be the sword of truth.

Because the wisdom we have seen today of our electorate shows us that repeating a lie often enough does not persuade the wise people of Gibraltar to turn away from facts.

Of course they can see and appreciate the challenges that may await.

And they know who will best steer them through.

And the political jury of Gibraltar.

The electoral jury of our peers

Has delivered a resounding judgment as to who has attempted to mislead them.

The message today is that it is not only governments who expose themselves to punishment as a result of errors of judgement.

Oppositions can also be punished when they deserve to be.

Shoddiness and lack of effort have been seen through

And to those beyond our shores who have attempted to interfere with our political process in the past few years.

A clear message has been sent.

Our people have not been influenced by such attempts.

Today, in the GSLP and Liberals, we feel the loss of many who are not here with us.