Gibraltarian sovereignty referendum, 2002
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The Government of Gibraltar called a referendum on 7 November 2002 to establish the popular support for a proposal to share sovereignty of the territory with Spain. The result was a massive rejection of the concept.
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[edit] Background
Although Gibraltar was ceded to the British Crown under Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Spain has wished to recover the territory, first by force and then by restrictions and diplomacy. Recovering Spanish sovereignty remains a stated objective of successive Governments. Secret talks between the UK and Spain culminated in 2002 with an announcement by Jack Straw in the Houses of Parliament that there would be shared sovereignty.
[edit] The question
The Gibraltar referendum asked the people of Gibraltar their opinion in the following words:
- On the 12th July 2002 the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, in a formal statement in the House of Commons, said that after twelve months of negotiation the British Government and Spain are in broad agreement on many of the principles that should underpin a lasting settlement of Spain's sovereignty claim, which included the principle that Britain and Spain should share sovereignty over Gibraltar.[1]
[edit] Turnout
The turnout was a massive 88% of those eligible to vote of which 99% did not support the position taken by Mr Straw.
[edit] Voting and the result
The actual voting was as follows: 18176 voted representing 87.9% of the electorate. There were 89 papers spoilt of which 72 were blank. Of the 18,087 valid ballots 187 voted YES, and 17,900 voted NO.[2]
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar speaking on the result stated that:
- A clear message had been sent to the world, and that a democratic politican at his own peril describes this result as irrelevent ... The result is one of democracy at work in its purest form ... The vote is the result of the will of the people of Gibraltar and that the concept of "Joint Sovereignty" is a dead end.
[edit] International observers
In order to ensure that the referendum was conducted fairly and that its result could not be dismissed, the Government of Gibraltar invited a panel of distinguished observers headed up by Gerald Kaufman, MP.
Their published report confirmed that:
- The observers were extremely impressed with the organisation of the referendum and particularly welcome that the role of the observers was integral to the process, as distinct from the more passive role of observers in other elections. The meticulous way in which votes were counted exceeded requirements and went beyond requirements adopted for UK elections. [3]
[edit] Reactions
Reaction in the Spanish media was unsurprisingly hostile with "El País" correctly noting:
- No Spanish Government, neither this one or its predecessors, has done enough to make joint sovereignty or integration with Spain an attractive prospect.[4]
For his part Jack Straw described the decision of the Government of Gibraltar to hold its own referendum on the prospect of shared sovereignty with Spain as eccentric. However, there was no further discussion on the subject of shared sovereignty as a direct result of the views expressed in referendum result and its associated campaign.
[edit] Final effects
In his evidence to the UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in 2008, Jim Murphy MP, Minister of State for Europe stated:
- The UK Government will never - "never" is a seldom-used word in politics - enter into an agreement on sovereignty without the agreement of the Government of Gibraltar and their people. In fact, we will never even enter into a process without that agreement. The word "never" sends a substantial and clear commitment and has been used for a purpose. We have delivered that message with confidence to the peoples and the Governments of Gibraltar and Spain. It is a sign of the maturity of our relationship now that that is accepted as the UK's position.[5]
[edit] References
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