The "Breva" Has Ripened

or the use of spin and its side effects in the democratic process.

Well, the 30th November came and went. Now all that's left is to see whether the pantomime, stage-managed by the Chief Minister and his lackeys, aided and abetted in no small measure by the PDP, produces the ' benefits' promised with so much hard-sell.

The GSLP/Liberal Alliance must rue the day it's leader decided to await the ' winter sales'. The NO campaigners, no doubt disappointed, must, nevertheless, feel very proud of their efforts. The fruit has matured and now it's time to see whether it drops by itself or is plucked from the tree, be it by outsiders or from within.

The NO Campaign
The NO Campaign was composed of various groups and individuals from a cross section of the public and differing political philosophies. Some are known for their own specific agendas, but all combined to oppose a process, which was unanimously agreed, weakened, if not, sold out Gibraltar's aspirations to self-determination/decolonisation, under the guise of a 'modern' but 'imperfect' constitution. There's no point in repeating those deficiencies. These may now be history for some, but remain a matter of grave concern for those who committed themselves to the ' no'. Their endeavour was concentrated on a 10-point list of objections and every effort was made to keep the campaign party apolitical. In all honesty, this was achieved. Any concurrence or similarity with the stance of other factions was pure coincidence and everybody, whatever their inclination, is asked to rationally accept that. Those who cannot and continue to accuse the dissenters of being puppets of the Elected Opposition - their only argument - are, sorry to say, intellectually defunct. Furthermore, it's a slight on the conviction, integrity and decency of many, who, over the years, have defended Gibraltar's interests, tooth & nail.  On this occasion, they have begged to differ with the pontificated ' official' line, as was their right, in any democratic society. Moreover, very few, if any, of their concerns and apprehensions have been satisfactorily answered. The ruling ' orthodoxy' preferred to disparage every point raised with all the disdainful adjectives it could muster, not to mention the ' scaremongering' disqualifications.

Aside the acrimonious technical, legal and political exchanges - expected in such a contest - the NOs had to endure other handicaps duly orchestrated by the overwhelming autocracy of the powers that be, well, the Chief Minister's, because there's no other. First there was no public funding, after it was requested from the Financial & Development Secretary; let alone a reply to the letter.  Debts incurred will have to be met by the militants themselves.  Then came the eviction from campaign headquarters, though this was promptly overcome.  When permission was requested from the RGP for leaflet distribution points in Main Street on the Saturday before the referendum, the caller was pointed in the direction of the Chief Minister's Office. 6 Convent Place gave him the run-around. Disruption was the order of the day; yes here, no there and the like, eventually agreeing to the original request only after arrangements had been made. After that, came the fiasco with the GBC Board, which meant the loss of one broadcast to the general public. To top it all, the long-standing protocol of no campaigning on the actual day was violated by the GSD, having informed the Referendum Administrator late on the eve to catch the opponents off guard. Some might say that this is a sour grape, not in the least. More colourful language comes to mind, but unprintable.

The YES Campaign
The YES Campaign, with the Chief Minister as flag-bearer, duly assisted by the whole GoG machinery, associated lackeys and sycophants, pulled all the stops, not just to sell their wares, but trample any sign of dissent. Its own discourse was filled with spin, ambiguous rhetoric and an economy of truth, implicit or explicit. To add insult to injury, its ruthless execution was carried out at taxpayers' expense. The writing was on the wall from the moment GoG published its ' explanatory' booklet, which was not ' informative' but a propaganda instrument. It expediently pushed the ' good bits' but contained no meaningful replies to specific concerns already raised by many. Then came a bombardment of press releases, plus paid advertisement, which dominated the papers, radio and television. More often than not, these concentrated on disparaging the dissenters as opposed to providing coherent information. The GBC Board's despicable decision to overturn the Management's apportion of equal airtime, among the opposing camps, points in no other direction than autocratic interference, be it from the Chief Minister himself, or his media guru. Whether the Board's u-turn was based on a direct order, influence, manipulation, coercion or a gutless decision, the result was the same; a very sad day for the credibility of GBC in particular and for democracy in general. Yet, the GSD party political broadcasts went ahead regardless and were used to ' encourage' a ' yes' vote, in violation of GBC's code. Oh, just a small anecdote to finish off this paragraph. Mr. Daniel Feetham, General Secretary of the GSD, its campaign bandleader, henchman - or scapegoat - heir apparent and the party's Prince Rupert, was escorted out of polling station no.9 by the Presiding Officer for not having the relevant pass. His excuse, pretext or reason, was that he had already strolled, at his leisure, through five other locations without challenge. It's that simple and patently shows the arrogance with which the whole farce has been conducted. Perhaps the Chief Minister and his cohorts should stop for a second and ask themselves the same question the neo-cons in the USA regularly exclaim:' Why don't they like us?'

Other Protagonist
Of course, there were other protagonists in this whole affair. So a ' few' words on these. The PDP maintained the established party line from the outset, which cost them the services of two of their most prominent members. ' Chapeau' to those who put their convictions above their political careers. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the PDP's reasoning in calling for ' yes' vote, its stance was ' consistent' and ' constructive', in so far that it stated what it would do next. Having said that, it would be interesting if they could now tell everybody how it reconciles its 28-point democracy plan with the minority approval?

If the GSLP/Liberal Alliance confounded many with its original bandwagon approach, their campaign tactics had everybody - perhaps even its own supporters - totally nonplussed. Avoidance of egg-on-the-face, one-upmanship, expediency and premature electioneering have all been mentioned in this column over the last few months. Whatever the ploy, only the ' old street-fighter' and his closest associates knew what their game was. A whole lot of political capital has been expensed at the ' tómbola' with no cuddly toys, bicycles or ' patas de jamón' to show for it. Many are now saying that if the Leader of the Opposition had called for a categorical rejection the ' no' would have carried the day. This may have been so, but no one can be sure. Either his message was confusing, or misunderstood for something else and thus, the bulk of his alleged core support stayed at home. There's a ' story' on the street that a number of the most ardent supporters of the ' workingman's hero', having voted ' yes', went to congratulate their proverbial ' svengali' for achieving his aim.  Pathetic, or did they vote with their conscience?  However, if it was all down to wounded pride and an anathema to admitting his pitfalls, then it's time to re-orientate the party's strategy. Continuing on such a rudderless course will only deliver more acrimonious politics in the coming year - old & fresh Tripartite deals, UN appearances in June & October and a long list of local issues - leading up to the General Elections. Undoubtedly, this, together with his lead in the opinion polls will revive his pugnacious nature. By then, unfortunately, many, pissed off with the permanent ' circus', will have resigned themselves to total apathy and the dictatorship, in everything but name, in place today.     
 
Only 37%
That's enough of a post-mortem on the campaign. The result will have to be analysed by all those involved and each camp shall reach their own conclusions. Forget the 60% x 38%. What's clear-cut is the fact that only 37%  - circa 7000 - of the electorate (20000 ) have approved the draft Constitution. When this figure is compared to that of the last General Election, which the GSD won with 51% of the vote in an approximate 80% turnout, i.e. 8000 votes or thereabouts, the ensuing equation speaks for itself. Whereas the prevailing first-past-the-post method of a general election is a necessary evil - someone has to govern - the implementation of a long serving' magna carta', with the approval of just over a third of the adult population - in a glorified opinion poll, propelled in true Orwellian style by the GoG propaganda machinery and associated patronage at taxpayers' expense, with no institutional guidelines, no independent observers and which is not legally binding - borders on the obscene. At the end of the day, the whole of Gibraltar is burdened with a constitution - deficient in many of its aspects, which will not decolonise The Rock - duly endorsed by the GSD and PDP core support, a few misguided ' socialists' and some neutrals. 8000, repeat 8000, stayed at home. It's, or was, very easy to accuse the NO campaigners of causing confusion. The politicians will never admit that they failed in their message.

Empty Nature of a Shallow Success
The sense of relief amongst the GSD supporters  - lacking their now habitual gloating attitude - and the Chief Minister's severe tone of his ' victory speech' portrayed the empty nature of a shallow success. All the spin and selective verbosity of his campaign was dwarfed by the ' cara dura' exhibited during his self-imposed moment of vainglory. Just about every phrase was full of meaningless rhetoric. Read on; the italics are the Chief Minister's words.

'...a Constitution that befits a proud and dignified, modern European democratic country which is what Gibraltar is.'    

Modern is a subjective term that means nothing. Gibraltar remains, in practice, a colony, with outside forces ensuring that it is never decolonised. So much for pride and dignity.

' The winners here today are not the politicians...'

Bloody hell, isn't he right. 4500 rejected the proposal and over 8000 didn't bother to express an opinion.

' The winners today are the people of Gibraltar... will enjoy greater political security in their homeland than they have ever enjoyed before.'

NO! Only he and his sycophants - plus a few intruders - are the winners. Nearly 13000 do not share his euphoria. As far as ' security' is concerned, one of the participants in the buddy-buddy ' ménage a trois' wants the home of all 20000. Another tries his hardest to make it as pleasurable as possible and the Chief Minister is in the middle ground, no pun intended.

'The People of Gibraltar. ...politically wise and astute'.

Which ones, the ' yes', the ' no' or the 8000 who stayed at home? If political party partisanship played a part, then it's even worse.

' They have risen above the confusion that has crept into this campaign'.

Blaming all and sundry for the poor return is blatant arrogance. If people were confused he was as much at fault. What did he expect, a banana republic referendum where the only choice is the whim of ' El Presidente'?

' ...the Constitution was not about the ' Spanish Dimension' ...not recognising the Treaty of Utrecht.'

Astonishing! He must be the only one on The Rock - plus a flock of blind unwavering faithful - who does not believe that the Spaniards interfered and the British acquiesced.  Otherwise, it's a straight choice between a lack of guts to admit it or absolute despotism. Utrecht is acknowledged. Gibraltar indeed rejects it, but Spain's and the UK's positions are likewise subtly incorporated. That's the ruse for slipping in more interpretations and misinterpretations, which, as always, undermine The Rock's aspirations. All those who have concerns about the independence of the Judiciary are not going to change their minds simply because the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Bar (in a personal capacity) and a coven of QCs - used merely as a name-dropping exercise - say so. Anyone who expects objective scrutiny, free from F&CO manipulation, at the Privy Council, can cease daydreaming forthwith.

' The electorate has to be congratulated because a campaign that sought to introduce issues which are irrelevant to it, has accepted that they were not true.'

NO! Seven odd thousand did and even then, some of them would have chosen to bank what was on offer as a lesser of two evils. 13000 did not and their reasons are just as valid.

' ...for the first time recognises our unalienable right to self-determination and accepted it as an exercise of that right.'

What's the point of that recognition when it's restricted left, right and centre? There is only one exercise and it's not A but THE, which will decolonise The Rock and give it a new international status, call it modern non-colonial relationship, or whatever. That is not going to happen because Spain and the UK have connived as much. Everyone can forget the UN's C24/4th C doing anything other than endorsing the annual consensus report jointly drafted by Gibraltar's claimant and ' modern' quasi-colonial administrators. The Chief Minister recently attacked a VOX poll because, in his opinion, the questions therein were leading, loaded and not based on fact. Well, it's rather comical that his, for the referendum, took the biscuit, with the blessing of the PDP and the god-knows-what of the Elected Opposition. Let all the readers think back over the years and ask themselves why the Chief Minister has been so elusive on the subject of self-determination?

'...because we have again demonstrated that we know how to operate our democratic systems fairly and properly, and in a way that gives the people an opportunity to speak their minds.'

There's no need to comment further. The preceding paragraphs say it all.

A Metamorphosis
Every cloud has a silver lining, or so they say. Perhaps the Gibraltarians' response to the pantomime they have endured will spur the political classes to undergo a metamorphosis in how they carry on their public obligations for the benefit of all citizens. All politicians are to blame for having reached such a state of affairs. When the Constitution is implemented, with minority approval, everyone, those who voted and those that didn't, will have to share the responsibility for what Gibraltar has been landed with. The document enhances London's ' Spanish Dimension' and Madrid's claim. These far outweigh any additional administrative powers the Chief Minister has attained. He always said that he would never pay ' a' price for good relations with the neighbours. He has gone further and paid ' the' ultimate one, selling Gibraltar's aspirations cheaply.  Nevertheless, the NO campaigners are not yet dead and buried. Other avenues are being explored with the same conviction as when they started. The democratic process is one thing, but a farce, which enjoys the support of only one third of the electorate, is another.

This columnist wants nothing more than to be proved wrong. If that were the case he would humbly acknowledge his misconception, even apologise to those who may have felt offended on the way. However, if matters do not develop as envisaged by the faithful, and his predictions come to pass, totally or in part, past ' historic' and ' miraculous' achievements will count for nothing. Will they then see and admit the error of their ways, run and hide in a hole until the storm abates or blame their omnipotent and infallible deity because ' creían pero no sabían'?

It's time for everyone to reflect and this columnist will do likewise, giving it a rest till next year. Merry Xmas & a peaceful New Year to all.