GIBRALTAR NEEDS ITS OWN EURO CANDIDATES

Last Thursday Gibraltar along with the rest of the UK voted in the Euro Elections. It was the second time that the Rock has been able to cast a vote for Euro MPs as part of the South West England and Gibraltar constituency. In the first elections in 2006 there was a high turn out on the Rock as Gibraltarians had won a hard fought battle to vote but the indications are that this year there was a lot of voter apathy.

In some ways this is hardly surprising. Gibraltarians are a sophisticated people politically but they were being asked to support parties that have no bearing on their day to day life. The key candidates were Tories, Labour and Lib Dems who do not exist as parties in Gibraltar although the GSLP and Liberals have links to the later two.

In the 2006 elections Gibraltarian Lyana Armstrong-Emery stood for the Greens. In this election Llanito Liberal Jonathan Stagnetto was a candidate for the Lib Dems but as the sixth candidate on the list had no chance of being elected. To make the Euro elections relevant to Gibraltarians either they should have their own seat or have candidates high on the list on all the major parties.

Ahead of last week’s polling the Progressive Democratic Party restated that its objective is to secure a separate MEP for Gibraltar. Until that happens the PDP says it considers that there is a democratic deficit to the detriment of the people of Gibraltar.

In a statement the PDP said: “There is no doubt that the MEPs from the three mainstream political parties, have served Gibraltar well. A vote for any of these is a vote for people who in the past have shown support for Gibraltar. The issue of course does not end there and Gibraltarians will have to judge the parties on their overall commitments to Gibraltar in areas such as sovereignty, self-determination or our defence on economic, environmental or social matters of importance within the European Union.”

“Additionally their attitude to Gibraltar having a separate MEP is important. None of the major parties, Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat have so far committed themselves to allocate a separate seat for Gibraltar.”

In the run-up to last Thursday’s election the PDP call on all three of the British parties to adopt that as official party policy. It noted Labour’s Glyn Ford has expressed his personal support for this but as yet it is not a Labour party commitment.

On Stagnetto the PDP observed: “Equally welcome is the inclusion by the Liberal Democrats of a Gibraltarian on their list. However given that seats are allocated to those at the top of the list only, the reality is that because he is at the bottom of the list Jonathan Stagnetto stands no real chance of being elected even if all Gibraltarians voted for him. It would have been different if he had been named second on the list. The conservatives have given firm and high profile commitments on sovereignty but have not pronounced themselves on the issue of a separate MEP for Gibraltar.”

In last Thursday’s Euro vote the Conservatives won 51.93 per cent of the Gibraltar vote followed in a distant second place by Labour on 18.53. The Lib Dems with Jonathan Stagnetto on the ticket polled just 17.71 per cent. The staggering statistic was that only 7,166 Gibraltarians or EU citizens opted to vote – around 35 per cent of the electorate (compared with 58 per cent in 2006) – well below the EU average. Gibraltar is now represented by three Conservatives, two UKIPs and one Lib Dem – the long serving Labour Euro MP, Glyn Ford, lost his seat.

BROWNED OFF OVER EUROPE

It must be a glummer Gordon Brown than usual that woke up in the flat above 10 Downing Street this morning. After the mauling he received in the local elections, the fiasco of his reshuffle, the booing from sections of the crowd in Normandy he now finds his party’s Euro vote has collapsed pushing Labour in to third place being the Tories and UKIP. I guess its good news though for Nokia as the British PM will no doubt hurl a couple more mobile phones around and they’ll need to be replaced.

I watched the election results come in on Spain’s TVE1 and Sky News. In Spain we polled on Sunday and by 22.00 around 80 per cent of the vote was in and we knew how the parties had fared.

Over on Sky News a depressed Adam Bolton was left reviewing the results from Spain, Poland, Italy and elsewhere in far-flung Europe. One constituency in England told him the result might not be known for six hours...even the rest would take a good while to crawl in. I bet Gordon Brown muttered “what’s the rush, what’s the rush!”

In Spain the centre right Partido Popular’s leader, Mariano Rajoy, and his party’s supporters were wearing large smiles. Hardly surprising as the party had chalked up its first National election victory since it lost power in 2004.

In the interim the PP has lost two Spanish General Elections and the last Euro poll so Sunday’s victory tasted very sweet indeed. However whilst prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will have been disappointed with second place the results were far better than a government battling with the full effects of the economic crisis could rightfully expect. Indeed how his socialist counterpart in London must envy him.

After Sunday’s poll the PP have 23 Euro MPs a loss of one over 2005. PSOE have 21 four less than last time out when they had a one seat advantage over the PP. The PP commanded 42.23 per cent of the vote (41.21 in 2005) and PSOE slumped to 38.51 compared with 43.48. So PSOE are firmly in second place but it not a disastrous result and with the general election not due to 2012 Zapatero will still be hopeful of a recovery. What would Gordon Brown give for 38.51 per cent of the vote? Don’t ask!

SEAN O’CURNEEN: FIRST NON-SPANIARD TO HEAD EU POLL LIST

On Sunday June 7 Spain goes to the polls to elect its Euro MPs. Spaniards will be joined at the polling stations by EU citizens who have registered to vote. This year an Irishman is the first non-Spanish citizen to head a national party list in Spanish political history.

Sean O’Curneen Cañas was born in Washington, USA, but moved to Spain when he was six. He is standing for the CDL - Centro Democrático Liberal – which also has another Briton, Jacqueline Cotterill, at number four.

As the name suggests the CDL is a Liberal party and has been endorsed by Nick Clegg, Leader of the British Liberal Democrats; Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008; Graham Watson, Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament and candidate for President of the European Parliament; and Flo Clucas, President of ALDE in the EU's Committee of the Regions and Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council.

In recent days Sean has been on the road from his Madrid base campaigning in Barcelona and Murcia. I managed to halt him for a short break to ask him why he chose the CDL. Sean told me: “Working for the European Liberals in Brussels, Europe’s third largest political force, with 100 MEPs, 5 Prime Ministers, 9 of the 27 European Commissioners, we are a strong and decisive political force in Europe. Although of Irish nationality, I am and feel more Spanish than anything else, and upon arriving in Brussels I was determined to ensure that the people of Spain have what most other Europeans have: greater political plurality and the opportunity to vote for a centrist, liberal democrat party.”

So why should ex-pats vote for the CDL rather than the mainstream PSOE, PP, IU and Greens? Sean replied: “The CDL hopes to achieve a number of things on the Spanish and the European front. In the European Parliament, one of our priorities will be to ensure that the Auken Report, which strongly condemned Spanish authorities because of the urban planning abuses, is followed through and its recommendations are carried out. We will be very vigilant to ensure that the EU rights of citizens are not infringed and we will be working to develop new rights for citizens throughout the Union. In addition, championing sustainable renewable energies, the role of small and medium sized enterprises, and opening up the EU to greater interaction with its citizens, for example by enhancing the role of the Parliament's petitions committee.”

Sean added: “No other Spanish party would have dared to put a non-Spanish citizen as their head of list, and indeed include another one as number 4 - Jacqueline Cotterill - out of a list of 50 candidates. In this way, CDL shows that it understands and cares for the EU citizens living in Spain and is determined to work for all citizens in Spain, regardless of their nationality.”

Britons voting in Spain on Sunday will find some differences from the usual system at home. Spain is a national constituency and you do not put an “x” against the candidates you wish to vote for put chose a party list. Inside the booth will be slips for PSOE, PP, IU and all the other parties offering candidates including the Centro Democrático Liberal – CDL. Make sure the “papeletas” have not been interfered with and if you are voting CDL that Sean O’Curneen Cañas’s name is top. If you can’t find a ‘papeleta’ for the party of your choice then ask for one. Finally fold your paper, put it in an envelope provided and pop it in the ballot box.


PS: Best wishes to Jonathan Stagnetto, a Gibraltar Liberal, who is standing for the Lib Dems in the South West England and Gibraltar constituency. In the last election Lyana Armstrong-Emery also stood as a Gibraltarian in the same constituency for the Greens. Liberal Leader, Dr Joseph Garcia, tells me Jonathan is sixth on the list so sadly he, like Lyana, is placed so far down that his election is highly unlikely. We look forward to the day when a British party follows the CDL lead and places a Llanito at the head of its list in the South West England and Gibraltar constituency.

(A nod in the direction of my good friend Lenox Napier for his help in this blog. You can click on his own blog – Spanish Shilling – in the box on the right.)