Nov 21 - GSD Concerned About “Secret, Dangerous And Undemocratic” Consultative Council
The GSD has said that the recently established Consultative Council “reinforces the undemocratic centralisation of power that this Government is pursuing, within a ring of secrecy and on pain of imprisonment.”
Robert Vasquez, the GSD spokesman on these issues, said:
“This is another step by the GSLP/liberal Government on the road to undermine democracy in Gibraltar by the creation of a secret and dangerous body that reduces the ability of noteworthy persons, including the Leader of the Opposition, were he to take up his position on the Consultative Council, to criticise the Government on pain of committing criminal offences and being imprisoned”.
A statement continued: “The creation of this body is toxic to the basic freedoms that need to be present in a democracy. In Parliament, the GSD opposed the creation of the Consultative Council but to no avail, as the Government has the ability to bulldoze its will, once a decision is taken in Cabinet.
“It is harmful because the vast majority of members of the Consultative Council are connected with the Government, being three serving Ministers and ten unelected persons appointed by the Chief Minister. The only members unconnected with the Government are the Leader of the Opposition and past Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers, who have not been members of the ruling party.
“Further, the confidentiality and secrecy provisions, coupled with the secrecy oath that members have to take, undermine democracy. Any breach of these is a criminal offence with an attendant penalty of imprisonment.
“Democracy is weakened further because the ability of members of the Council to participate in public debate on any subject is erased by the Chief Minister raising the issue in the Council. Thus, the Leader of the Opposition can be effectively neutered because he is prohibited from debating, in Parliament, within his party or publicly, any such matter. This is a form of censorship within the exclusive control of the Chief Minister that must be wrong.
“Comparisons with the Privy Council are not a justification. The Privy Council advises Her Majesty on the limited matters falling within the Royal Prerogative. The Privy Council does not have a political dimension that interferes in the democratic powers and process that is vested in Parliament. The unelected Consultative Council is political, with its purpose being to advise the Chief Minister on the wide objectives and remit identified in the Act.”
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