Fabian Picardo

STANDING UP FOR YOU AND GIBRALTAR, ALL UNITED AS ONE.

Few men have had such an impact on local politics, but do we know the person? Do we know his background, what makes him tick? Why is he widely tipped as our next Chief Minister?

Fabian Picardo may be the leader of Gibraltar’s Opposition and GSLP as well as an internationally respected lawyer but as befits a socialist he comes from a truly working class family. More importantly he has his feet firmly on the ground and understands the hopes, fears and concerns of his fellow Gibraltarians. Not only does he understand he has no fear of speaking out even if that does rattle the cage of those in power because they do not like to be faced with the truth of their wasted four terms in power.

He may have been born without the advantages of many in society but throughout his schooling and university he has a burning desire to achieve. He graduated first at the Inns of Court School of Law at Grays Inn after taking a Law Jurisprudence degree at Oxford University. He is also a Member of the Middle Temple.

Like many Gibraltarians, once he had achieved his qualification he returned to the Rock and has been at the Hassans International Law Firm since 1994 where he has been a partner for over 10 years. Fabian Picardo also ran the Hassans summer school programme for many years and has appeared in numerous courts for Gibraltar including the Privy Council and European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He was called to the Bar in Gibraltar, the British Virgin Islands and has worked extensively in Commonwealth countries.

Fabian Picardo’s political opponents would have you believe that only the chief minister can stand up against Spain and the Partido Popular. What nonsense! The very fact that Gibraltarians enjoy a vote in the European Parliament is not down to the chief minister or the GSD government but the skills of the legal team led by Michael Llamas in the Denise Matthews case in which Fabian Picardo was amongst those who fiercely fought the Rock’s corner at the European Court of Human Rights.

That’s Fabian Picardo the lawyer but what of the politician? Not surprisingly given his humble background he has always been on the left of politics being a member of the Liberal Party (previously the GNP) until 2001. He then made the decision to join the GSLP, the party which he hopes to lead in to government after the coming election with coalition partners, the Liberals. Indeed because Dr Joseph Garcia was leader of the Liberals when Fabian Picardo was a member they have developed a very close, dynamic working and personal relationship. Earlier I mentioned his desire to succeed, that desire has now grown in to a burning desire to work for the people of Gibraltar for their future success and security.

Picardo quickly made his mark in the GSLP and with voters. In his first election he came second to Joe Bossano in the GSLP list, third in the GSLP/Liberal list (after Dr Joseph Garcia).  In his second election he came second to Bossano in the whole GSLP/Liberal list.  He took over the leadership of the GSLP from Joe Bossano in April 2011 when the veteran socialist leader stood down (although he remains an MP and member of the party). Of course the GSD wish to paint the picture of Fabian Picardo as being the puppet of Bossano. Anybody who knows Picardo the lawyer, Picardo the politician, Picardo the man knows only too well that Picardo is nobody’s puppet.

So what are Fabian Picardo’s hopes for the future for himself and his beloved Gibraltar?

  "I want to change the way our democracy works, bringing Gibraltar out of autocracy and our Parliamentary accountability up to modern standards.  In that vein, I want to make government accountable for tenders granted, I want to see every penny we have spent properly accounted for.  I want to put employment of young people and caring for vulnerable elderly people at the top of the agenda.  I have a desire to be part of the defence of our sovereignty against the aggression we face every day from our "friendly neighbour" and those here on the Rock who do not understand the simple words “No Surrender”. No surrender of our right to open government, no surrendering of our duties to care for our people, no surrender to the concept that Gibraltarians should find dignified jobs, no surrender of our hopes and dreams for Gibraltar and certainly no surrender of our sovereignty on land or sea.”

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Q1: You are now a successful lawyer and leader of the GSLP but started from humble beginnings. How did your working class background shape your political views?

In every way.  I am the product of that upbringing. I understand what it is like when people don’t have jobs and I consider myself a worker. My parents worked very hard indeed to enable me to become a professional; and I won’t allow anything to go to my head and make me think I am better than any other worker or anything other than a worker.  I understand the need to make ends meet requires careful planning and that a wage sometimes needs to be stretched by working people. That is why I get so annoyed when I see taxpayers money wasted on frivolities or for what are clearly GSD partisan ends; like spending huge amounts on overtime so MrCaruana can unveil plaques with his name on before the election or giving the 7Days hundreds of thousands of pounds of your money and mine to publish lies and rubbish which is just GSD election propaganda paid for by the taxpayer.

Q2: What made you decide on a profession as a lawyer – and was that instrumental in your decision to go in to politics?

As a young man I always saw the legal profession as one of the safeguards of the rule of law and the rights of individual citizens against the state.  In particular, I was aware of lawyers locally who helped working class people and who didn’t charge them.  I am delighted to have become a partner in such a man’s firm.  From that perception of one aspect of what the practice of the law can be it was a small step to becoming actively involved in politics, in particular in defence of our struggle as a people.

Q3: You were part of the team that won the European Vote for Gibraltar with the Denise Matthews case before the European Court of Human Rights. Do you feel Gibraltar should be more pro-active in the European Courts in fighting its corner against Spain?

I was a junior lawyer in that team who was delighted to be working (from the days when I was still doing my Bar finals in London) with two people who I respect hugely, namely Michael Lllamas who was the person who identified the opportunity and drove the case, and Lewis Baglietto who is now one of my partners.  I am delighted to call them friends.  I certainly do think that there are legal avenues open to us which we may now be able to pursue and which may enable us to better defend or even advance our position on many issues.

Q4: You have now succeeded Joe Bossano as leader of the GSLP. Your opponents would wish to portray you as his puppet. How do you counter that and show that whilst he is still has a major role to play in the party he founded it is you who now leads?

I am not surprised to see my political opponents trying to tarnish the magnificent way in which Joe Bossano and the GSLP have managed the transition to a new leader.  Let’s face it; this has never been done before in Gibraltar politics.  The AACR did not really survive Sir Joshua’s departure from its leadership.  The GSD is likely to survive after the almighty Peter Caruana who allows no dissent inside its ranks.  I am me.  Anyone who knows me knows I am no-one’s puppet.  Before I took over the leadership the accusation levelled against me was that I was Machiavellian and that I was manoeuvring myself expertly into position.  Now that I am in the job, I cease to be the expert Machiavelli they used to say I was and I turn into everybody’s’ puppet.  I think that my political detractors will have to think a little more carefully if they want to persuade the people not to support the positive policy agenda we are presenting to the people of Gibraltar.  It’s not the GSLP that is the Muppet Show of Gibraltar politics!

Q5: The general election is now close at hand. What is your message to the people of Gibraltar? Why should they vote for the GSLP Liberals and you as their next chief minister?

Because I do not want to be an all-powerful leader who uses Ministers like assistants.  I want to strengthen democracy and accountability. I want to strengthen the civil service as an essential part of the structure of government.  I am in politics because I believe in protecting the Gibraltar that I grew up in and making it stronger in the international community of nations. I want to see the quality of life of Gibraltarians improve and I want to see Gibraltar stay British as a guarantee for our future in respect of education, the rule of law and the quality of our democracy.

Q6: The Vox, GBC and the Gibraltar Chronicle have recently published their own opinion polls . All these soundings of public opinion show a strong lead for the GSLP Liberals over the GSD. What is your reaction to these results and how will it influence your election campaign.

The result reflects the feeling in the street that it is time for change; but the campaign has only just begun and the only result that matters is the result of the general election itself.  We have to work very hard to avoid our political opponents distorting our positive message.  We are going to be running, as usual, a campaign of ideas for the future of our Community.  I expect we will be facing a dirty, cut-throat, character assassination squad.   Voters will see through that and will understand that the conduct of parties in election campaigns reflects how parties will run government.  I believe that the electorate will prefer our positive, forward looking style.