Gibraltar goes to the polls

27 November 2003

GIBRALTAR – Gibraltarians went to the polls Thursday in elections to choose the Legislative Assembly.

The members of the assembly will in turn designate the British overseas territory’s chief minister.

Voting booths in the 12 electoral districts opened at 9am for the 18,452 registered voters and were to close at 10pm, electoral officials said.

The voters are to select 15 members of the Legislative Assembly from among 25 candidates.

There are eight hopefuls running from the three main political parties and one independent, Lyana Armstrong-Emery of the Refrom Party.

Chief Minister Peter Caruana of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), who has led the government for two four-year mandates, is running again.

Caruana’s chief rivals for the post are former chief minister Joe Bossano of the Gibralar Socialist Labour Party and Liberal coalition (GSLP-Liberal) and Daniel Feetham of the Labour Party.

In the last elections in 2000, Caruana’s GSD won with 58.35 percent of the vote, followed by the GSLP-Liberal party which garnered 40.56 percent.

It was not immediately clear when results would be announced from Thursday’s election.

Gibraltar, known as “The Rock” and strategically situated where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, has been a British possession since it was ceded by Spain in the 18th century Treaty of Utrecht.

Spain still claims the tiny spit of land at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula but the 30,000 Gibraltarians are firmly against abandoning its status as a British overseas territory.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news