Together Gibraltar Gears Up For General Election
Together Gibraltar will be holding a candidate primary election in the next few weeks during which members will vote for which candidates should stand for the party in this year’s general election.
The party says this measure is part of a promise to bring a “different style of politics” to the community - a style that is ”truly democratic, open, transparent and that, crucially, promotes and encourages participation from all segments of society.”
At a press conference this morning in the party’s Main Street HQ, Leader Marlene Hassan Nahon said that politics “has to be opened up to the citizens of Gibraltar in order to solve the problem of representation that our democracy suffers,” adding that the party hopes that its members will choose a slate “that will reflect the real make up of our society, and not just a handful of wealthy lawyers and economic elites.”
She said: “We do this because we believe that increased participation and better representation will allow us to create a political agenda that truly meets the general needs and hopes of our community.”
As from today, the primary elections are open to all members of Together Gibraltar who wish to put themselves forward as potential candidates for the coming election. In order to do so, they will have to communicate their wishes to the party in the following 10 days, before the 12th of August, which will mark the deadline for candidacy entries.
From that moment onwards, all current members will have the opportunity to deposit their vote via email or in person for the period of 10 days. Although new members will be allowed, only those signed up before today will be able to vote in these primaries. Offices will remain open throughout the voting period for that purpose, in the time windows between 9 and 12 in the morning and 6 and 9 in the evening on all working days.
The timeline for the voting is as follows:
PRIMARY ELECTION ANNOUNCED: 2nd AUGUST
DEADLINE FOR POTENTIAL CANDIDATES: 9pm 11th AUGUST
OPENING OF BALLOT - 9am 12th AUGUST
CLOSURE OF BALLOT - 9pm 21st AUGUST
Final results will be announced on the 22nd of August.
In order to guarantee exposure for all candidates, party media services will provide a platform for all candidates to promote their primary pitches. A campaign video will be provided, free of charge, and each candidate will be allowed to publish a written pitch of a maximum of 1,000 words in all Together Gibraltar social media outlets. Other means of campaigning will be allowed, but will have to be sourced and organised by each candidate independently.
The campaign video will be in interview format, all candidates being subjected to the exact same three questions:
Do you believe your background has prepared you to become a political candidate?
Why are you the right person to represent Together Gibraltar in the coming election?
What is your vision for the future of Gibraltar?
Members will choose 10 candidates from the final list, singling out their choice for leader and the remaining nine candidates in order of preference.
Ms Hassan Nahon also took the opportunity to comment on the plans for democratic reform: “We believe this reform would be wholly inefficient in tackling the democratic deficits that exist in our system - a system that systematically provides blanket majorities that exercise absolute power - while continuing to inflate the cost of our democratic system. We believe that the last thing Gibraltar needs is more ineffective MPs and bigger parliamentary theatrics of little or no substance. We also believe that the move would be extremely unpopular amongst those who will have to shoulder the cost of this unnecessary change - the Gibraltar taxpayer. We hope the government has the sense not to implement such an unpopular and ineffective move at the 11th hour, however, if they were to go ahead with these plans, we would make a simple adjustment and extend the number of candidates to accommodate the change.”
She ended with this message:
“On a more personal note, I would like to send out a message of hope and courage to the membership - particularly, to the women of our party. The interests of our collective have always been underrepresented in our democracy, and they continue to be neglected in the almost all-male political environment we have today. I tell you all - have no fear. Being a woman in politics comes with many challenges, no doubt. We are often primary care givers and homemakers, juggling an infinite number of responsibilities and always subjected to the highest of standards. But this does not mean it is impossible, and most importantly, that it is not a worthy struggle. We need more women in politics. We need a more feminised style of politics. We need more conversation and less cockiness. More dialogue and less derision. More empathy and less egomania. From the start, one of our most important missions has been to promote those collectives in our community who are not being fairly represented by the political system, and I hope we have created a platform in which all members can feel supported and empowered. The doors of Together Gibraltar are open to all of you.”
Pic: Ms Hassan Nahon and Together Gibraltar executive member Neil Samtani.
