GSLP Liberals : General Election Date “Entirely Unrelated” to McGrail Inquiry
The GSLP Liberals have reacted to what they describe as the “incorrect statement” issued by the GSD this afternoon following the announcement of a General Election for Thursday 12th October 2023
Reacting to the statement, the Leader of the GSLP Liberals, Fabian Picardo, said:
“Mr Azopardi clearly wants to make this election about the McGrail Inquiry. He wants to politically use the McGrail Inquiry to try and deflect from the fact that now, on the CUSP of a future relationship treaty with the EU, this is not the time to change Government.
“As I have already said on many occasions, I am ENTIRELY confident that the Inquiry will find I acted entirely properly throughout.
“The inquiry could not come soon enough as far as I am concerned, as it will reveal the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“That truth will show I acted ENTIRELY properly throughout and as every Gibraltarian and resident of Gibraltar would have expected me to act in all of the circumstances which were relevant at each moment.
“I therefore make it absolutely clear to Mr Azopardi and the GSD that the announcement of the General Election for Thursday 12th October has no connection whatsoever to the McGrail inquiry.
“For Mr Azopardi to continue to pretend otherwise is just to seek to mislead the public with untruths.
“I have consistently said that I have known what the election date would be for the past two years.
“This was never hidden or veiled in secrecy; instead, it was openly shared with the public by me, repeatedly.
“The timeline of events leading up to the election date announcement clearly demonstrates that it was based on factors unrelated to the McGrail inquiry.
“My decision to call the General Election for October 12th was always influenced by various significant developments.
“The completion of three magnificent state of the art new schools was one such pivotal factor.
“These schools will play a crucial role in shaping the future of Gibraltar's education system and will provide our future generations with the facilities they so desperately deserved, and which were neglected for so long by the GSD.
“The completion of 380 affordable homes at Hassans Centenary Terraces, a flagship programme of the Government I have led, was another.
“I was very clear that this was essential for me in showing we were delivering on affordable housing, despite the COVID and BREXIT inflicted delays.
“The timing of National Day, an event celebrated by ALL Gibraltarians, was also a factor I considered when calling the election date.
“No Chief Minister would wish to address the public as caretaker on that important day for our nation.
“Finally, I knew I wanted the date to be BEFORE 17th October, so I did not exceed four years in post since the last election.
“I therefore urge Mr Azopardi and the GSD to focus on the issues at stake for Gibraltar and not try to distract with the unrelated issues that will arise in the McGrail inquiry when it comes on.
“In fact, I had hoped it would be over by now so people could have seen how right and proper all my actions were and have been in that context.
“It is essential that we maintain a constructive and forward-looking political discourse that addresses the real concerns and aspirations of our people.
“I therefore urge Mr Azopardi not to try to muddy the waters with unrelated references to how I picked the election date.
“If he had studied the calendar of events which the public knew were coming, he should have know how to astutely pick the date I was going for.
“Instead, today, he was obviously not ready to hold a press conference and get his campaign going, whatever he might say, and has chosen to go with a red herring and a copy of our campaign slogans from 2011 rather than with announcements of new policies.
“In the GSLP Liberals we are ready to set out what we are proposing to Gibraltar for the next four years in Government.
“We have already started that today in our 4pm press conference and will continue in coming days and weeks.
"I cannot wait to set these aspirations out in detail for the people of Gibraltar to see for themselves how we propose to progress Gibraltar over the next four years and beyond.
“Our vision, vitality and determination to #GetTheJobDone will ensure we #KeepGibraltarSafe.”
