Sep 15 - New Mace Goes On Display In Parliament
The new Mace was displayed in Parliament for the first time, and the Speaker of the House Adolfo Canepa said it has special significance.
Speaking at the beginning of this afternoon’s Parliament session, he said it comes in an “auspicious” year as we are a few days away from celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first self-determination referendum and the bi-centenary anniversary of the Parliament building.
He said it has two dates engraved on it – 1951 – which was when Prince Phillip opened the first legislative council and 2017 which is the year of its creation.
Mr Canepa added that the Mace was also engraved with the letters “EIIR” acknowledging Queen Elizabeth II, as opposed to the old one which carried the cypher “GVIR” for her father King George VI.
The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said: “Although we were not a parliament in 1951, it is right that we show the stability, the longevity that democracy in Gibraltar has enjoyed that we now have the Mace with us.”
He added that it is fitting that the sovereignty of Gibraltar is with its people, and it is right that the stalactite in the prominent place in the chamber, in the place of democracy and debate of its people.
The Leader of the Opposition Roy Clinton said the Mace is a symbol of royal authority, without which they cannot pass legislation.
Mr Clinton went on to describe previous incidents with the Mace, including Michael Heseltine’s protest in 1976, to the chucking out of the Mace of the window in the Bahamas in 1965.
He congratulated the clerk Paul Martinez for a very well-executed and beautiful Mace, and hoped that the Mace will be present for the next 100 years in the Chamber.
Independent MP Marlene Hassan-Nahon said the 1967 referendum “left an indelible mark on our narrative and was a pivotal step in our development of further civil autonomy as a British Gibraltarian people”.
Mrs Hassan-Nahon said one of the more tangible links to the United Kingdom is the Mace, without which this Parliament could not meet.
Lawrence Llamas declined to comment.
The Mace itself was crafted by Fattorini of Birmingham, the same company who produce the FA Cup, at a cost of £45,000,
Accompanying the Mace in its arrival in Parliament is the other half of the polished stalactite that presented by the late Speaker Sir Robert Peliza, to the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd in 1994. This half was in the Gibraltar Museum since then. That half is displayed in the Speaker’s House in Westminster, whilst this one is engraved in letters of gold with the preamble to the 1969 Gibraltar, itself a consequence of the 1967 Referendum.
{fcomment}
