Dec 29 - BREAKING: Arise Sir Joe - Bossano To Be Knighted For Services To Gibraltar
After 45 years in politics, the former Chief Minister and current Minster for Economic Development Joe Bossano is set to be knighted for services to Gibraltar.
Sir Joe Bossano, as he will now be known, has been appointed as a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG) in the New Year Honours List.
A spokesperson from Number Six said: “As a former trade unionist, Member of the House of Assembly and Parliament, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Minister and now Father of the House and Minister for Economic Development, Joe Bossano has dedicated his professional life to the cause of Gibraltar and its people.
“He has been an elected member of the House of Assembly or the Parliament for longer than any other individual in our history, with a political career in Gibraltar spanning forty five years so far. He is one of the longest serving Parliamentarians in the Commonwealth and would today match Denis Skinner and Ken Clarke as the longest currently serving Parliamentarians in the present House of Commons.”
Sir Joe started his political career in Gibraltar in 1972 in the House of Assembly, elected into opposition as part of the Integration With Britain Party. He formed the Gibraltar Democratic Movement, which became the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party in 1976. In 1984, he led the GSLP to take all the Opposition seats in the House of Assembly. Four years later, he led the GSLP to victory in the 1988 General Election and became Gibraltar’s fourth Chief Minister. He was Chief Minister for eight years until May 1996. From that year, he assumed the post of Leader of the Opposition for fifteen years until April 2011. After the 2011 General Election, he became Minister for Employment and Economic Development.
At the age of 78, he remains a Minister today, with responsibility for Economic Development and the Savings Bank. In the eight years in which he was Chief Minister, Sir Joe is credited with having returned the Gibraltar economy to viability after the double challenge of the closure of the dockyard and the full opening of the frontier. Even before becoming Chief Minister, Sir Joe was leading the economic development of Gibraltar with his leadership of the successful battle for wage parity Amongst his many innovations, he introduced affordable home ownership and the 50/50 scheme that allowed many Gibraltarians to own their own homes and the concept of mandatory scholarships grants for those Gibraltarians who chose to pursue University studies. He was instrumental in the establishment and defence of the Community Care Charity that pays all Gibraltar-resident pensioners a “household cost allowance” to supplement pensions, as well as assisting in the establishment of The Calpe House Trust that assists GHA patients who require care in the United Kingdom.
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: “The whole of Gibraltar will want to join me in congratulating Sir Joe Bossano on the granting by Her Majesty the Queen of this distinguished honour on my ministerial colleague and former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition. I lead the Cabinet, and no doubt the whole Parliament and the rest of our community in extending our most sincere congratulations to Sir Joe. Indeed, I am sure that our political opponents will want to join us in extending their genuine congratulations also. His contribution to public life in Gibraltar is unrivalled in its duration and effect and, perhaps most importantly, he is still going strong and will be for many years. From self-determination and parity to affordable home ownership and the mandatory scholarship scheme, through so many other groundbreaking innovations and battles, Joe Bossano has led this community in the trade union movement, in the House of Assembly and in the Parliament. He is now Father of the House as well as being a Minister. He is a man whose commitment to Gibraltar is without question. A man whose integrity, intelligence and logic has won battles for Gibraltar that others would have abandoned. He led the emergence of Gibraltar into a post-colonial constitutional reality after the 1988 General Election.
“This recognition by Her Majesty is richly deserved for one of the men who has fought the hardest for Gibraltar to remain entirely British. Sir Joe Bossano is a Gibraltarian patriot and a hero of the working classes and now also a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in recognition of his life’s work.”
GSLP CONGRATULATES SIR JOE
The GSLP, founded by Sir Joe, has also congratulated him on the news.
The Chairman of the GSLP, Pepe Baldachino, one of the original co-founder members of the party, who was first elected in 1984 to serve with Sir Joe Bossano in the then House of Assembly, said: “I started in politics in the trade union movement alongside Joe Bossano when he was the force behind the battle for parity, which Gibraltar won. I followed his lead into the GSLP and from 1984 Joe led the battle against the infamous Brussels Agreement and the closure of the Dockyard. In government from 1988, now 30 years ago, Joe led us in the battle for self-determination and the return to the United Nations, the massive land reclamation programme, the introduction of 50/50 affordable housing, the mandatory university scholarships and the support for the establishment of Community Care and the revolution of telecommunications which has allowed the online gaming industry and DLT/Blockchain developments since. Joe's economic understanding of Gibraltar allowed him to adapt the economy to the withdrawal of the Ministry of Defence and the full opening of the frontier. After our first stint in government, Joe then once again led the opposition for 15 years, helping to keep the GSLP the constant alternative government. His contribution to Gibraltar is unprecedented. He has dedicated his whole life to Gibraltar and in particular to the working class. This is an honour that is very well deserved. All our members and supporters will congratulate Sir Joe and his wife Rose. All of us who have fought alongside him are very proud to see the recognition by Her Majesty the Queen of his work and many achievements.”
The Leader of the GSLP, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, added: “Joe Bossano will go down in history as the man who led Gibraltar's de facto decolonisation, its political emancipation and the emancipation of its people. In 1972, his return to Gibraltar heralded the strengthening of bonds with trade unionism in the United Kingdom, leading to the successful and seminally important battle for parity. His laser like focus on self-determination from 1984 onwards defeated any attempts to negotiate Gibraltar's sovereignty with Spain over the heads of the Gibraltarians. From 1988 he took the reins of the Gibraltar economy and public finances into his steady Gibraltarian hands and he wrested Constitutional control from the Convent and London. His achievements are too many to summarise fairly but his utter and complete dedication to Gibraltar will never be matched again. He is a man from whom I have learnt more than he sometimes realised he was teaching – and I think that is true not just for me but for all his political colleagues and political opponents. It is also undoubtedly true that the seeds of Gibraltar's prosperity today were all sown by Joe Bossano and his first GSLP administration. He is also the Gibraltarian to have most frequently addressed the United Nations on Gibraltar, starting in 1992, when he first addressed the Committee of 24 and the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly as Chief Minister, to his last address to both those committees in 2010 as Leader of the Opposition. He still annually addresses the United Nations Seminar on Decolonisation each year in May by invitation of the Secretariat and is recognised by them as an authority on the right of self determination of the people of the remaining non-self governing territories. All of these political achievements have come at huge personal sacrifice, and family sacrifice also. The whole of the GSLP family will be delighted with this honour of our beloved personal friend, party founder and political father figure. I am sure we would all – Joe in particular - have wished that Juan Carlos Perez, Charles Bruzon, Joshua Gabay, Robert Mor, Reggie Valarino, Peter Caetano and Luis De Rio, amongst so many other dear and now deceased comrades, could have been here to see our Joe become Sir Joe! We must also equally celebrate that Sir Joe is still going strong and that we are able to count on his undoubted abilities and continued sharp analysis as we identify and design the future opportunities for growth for the Gibraltar economy in the years to come as we leave the European Union. Sir Joe will be as important a part of the future as he has been of the past and is of the present.”
LIBERAL PARTY REACTION
The Deputy Chief Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party Dr Joseph Garcia said: “The grant of a KCMG to my friend and colleague Joe Bossano by Her Majesty the Queen in the New Year’s Honours List is richly deserved.
“Sir Joe has served as an elected representative of the people of Gibraltar, in Government and in Opposition, for 45 years, which is a record in itself.
“His record in defence of the people of Gibraltar speaks for itself. Throughout his life, he has taken political positions based on conviction and on principle regardless of whether those positions were popular or not at the time.
“Indeed, his analysis of the Lisbon Agreement in 1980 and Brussels Agreement in 1984, for example, were proved to be correct by the passage of time and are now widely accepted.
“In upholding the right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination and in resisting the Spanish claim for decades, Sir Joe has made a huge contribution to ensure that Gibraltar remains British to this day.
“I have had the pleasure of working with him for nearly twenty years and his powers of political and economic analysis, his willingness to take a stand on principle, his concern to help others and his determination to resist the Spanish claim are as strong now as they have ever been.
“On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Liberal Party, I would like to wish a very well deserved congratulations both to Sir Joe and to Lady Rose Bossano.”
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