Oct 11 - Feetham Welcomes Picardo’s Position on 2006 Constitution and Cordoba Agreement
Following the Chief Minister’s speech to the US Council on Foreign Relations this week, the Opposition has welcomed his statement that the ‘2006 Constitution has given Gibraltar so much autonomy that we believe that this could be the maximum level of self-government short of independence and there is no political move to seek independence in Gibraltar" and that the Cordoba Agreement was "very positive’.
The party claims that Mr. Picardo’s position, is now ‘indistinguishable from the long held position of the GSD, on these two important issues.’
They continue, ‘the GSD's position, despite significant criticism from the then GSLP-Liberal Opposition, has always been that the Cordoba Agreement was good for Gibraltar and good for Spain. Our position on the 2006 Constitution was that it constituted an act of self-determination and that it gave Gibraltar the maximum level of self-government short of independence and compatible with continued British sovereignty. It will be recalled that we were the only party with seats in Parliament that actively campaigned in favour of a ‘Yes Vote’ during the referendum on the New Constitution and the leader of the GSD, Daniel Feetham, co-ordinated the ‘Yes Vote’ campaign.
‘Indeed, it is a position we have articulated on numerous occasions, not least on National Day this year where we made the point that our attendance at the National Day rally, for the purposes of showing solidarity with the people of Gibraltar at this difficult moment in time, should not be seen as an endorsement of the position of the SDGG and an abandonment of ours.’
Commenting on the matter, GSD Leader Daniel Feetham explained, ‘this is irrespective of whether on the constitutional issue, the United Nations delists Gibraltar or not, which is a different issue. Indeed, the fact that the UN Committee of 24 ignores our calls every year for the reality of our constitutional links with the UK to be recognised, does not alter that reality. Over recent weeks we have seen a convergence of the Government's position with ours in respect of a number of important issues, not least for example, the decision by the Government more than a year and a half into the fishing crisis to introduce legislation to allow Spanish Fishermen to fish with EU compliant nets, which has also been our publicly stated position since the crisis broke. It shows that the position of the GSD has been consistent and well thought out from the beginning.’
