"CALL AN ELECTION NOW!"

FABIAN PICARDO TO CHIEF MINISTER : “STOP CLINGING ONTO POWER”

The GSLP Liberals have called on the current chief minister to announce the date for Gibraltar’s General Election now.

The anniversary of the last general election is on October 11. Given the minimum 30 days notice required in the law for an election to be held, even if the chief minister called the election now it could not be held to after that date so he will have exceeded his four year term.

There are many who believe the current chief minister is delaying announcing his decision on what date to hold the general election because he is worried by the prospect of losing power.

Leader of the Opposition, Fabian Picardo, stated: “I would remind the current chief minister that the four years since the last election will expire on the 11th October. Every day after that date is beyond the four years. Although the law allows him to cling on for longer, he should not impose himself on the people and should call the election now to allow the people of Gibraltar to decide who should be in charge of the stewardship of their affairs for the next four years. We believe that they agree with us that it is time for a change in the administration of Gibraltar’s affairs and that our programme for more open and transparent government will be preferred to a continuation of the present secretive style of the GSD. We have already started our campaign and all that is left is for Mr Caruana to call the election.

“There can be no legitimate reason for Mr Caruana to continue cling to power. To all intents and purposes he is weeks away from being a caretaker chief minister. Using Gibraltar Day in London as part of his campaign, desperately trying to achieve a partial opening of the new Air Terminal and trying to finish other projects with 24 hour work schedules is not going to make people forget the serious issues many people have with his style of government as it has developed over the past 16 years.

“It is time for the people to be given the power decide what type of government they want for the next four years. Chief Minister call an election now!”