Politics

Executive Branch

As an overseas territory of the UK, the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. The UK retains responsibility for defence, foreign relations, internal security and financial stability.

Governor

Queen Elizabeth II is represented by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief, presently Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton KBE (appointed 2006). The Governor appoints the leader of the largest party in the unicameral parliament, as Chief Minister. The Governor is not involved in the day-to-day administration of Gibraltar, and his role is largely as a ceremonial head of state. The Governor is responsible for matters of defence and security.

Executive

The Government of Gibraltar is elected for a term of four years. The head of Government is the Chief Minister. There are three political parties currently represented in the Gibraltar Parliament: Gibraltar Social Democrats; Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party; and Gibraltar Liberal Party. The present Chief Minister is the Hon Peter Caruana, QC, of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), who have been in office since May 17, 1996, and were returned to power in elections held on February 10, 2000, and November 27, 2003. The Leader of the Opposition is the Hon Joe Bossano, of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Pary (GSLP), which is in coalition with the Liberal Party of Dr Joseph Garcia.

All parties support Gibraltar's right to self-determination, and reject any concessions on the issue of sovereignty.

Legislative Branch

The Gibraltar Parliament consists of fifteen elected members, to be increased to seventeen at the next election, and the Speaker. Under the electoral system of partial bloc voting used since 1969, voters must choose ten candidates, who need necessarily not be from the same party but usually are. The winning candidates are then chosen by simple plurality; consequently, a party seeking to form a government stands ten candidates, and the party that forms the government is usually successful in having all ten of its candidates elected; the remaining seats are usually won by the 'best loser' which then forms the opposition. The last election was held on November 27, 2003. The next election will be held in 2007.

Political Issues

Gibraltar is a part of the European Union, having joined under the British Treaty of Accession (1973), with exemption from some areas such as the Customs Union and Common Agricultural Policy.

After a ten year campaign to exercise the right to vote in European Elections, from 2004, the people of Gibraltar participated in elections for the European Parliament as part of the South West England constituency.

As a result of the continued Spanish claim, the issue of sovereignty features strongly in Gibraltar politics. All local political parties are opposed to any transfer of sovereignty to Spain, instead supporting self-determination for the Rock. This policy is supported by the main UK opposition parties. In view of the UK Government's repeated commitment to respect the wishes of the people of Gibraltar, as laid out in the Constitution, the proposal for joint sovereignty is now considered dead.

In March 2006, Jack Straw announced that a new Gibraltar constitution had been agreed upon and would be published prior to a referendum on its acceptance in Gibraltar that year. In July, in a statement to the UK Parliament, Geoff Hoon, the Minister for Europe, confirmed that the new Constitution confirms the right of self-determination of the Gibraltarian people.

On 30 November 2006, the Gibraltar constitutional referendum was held. The turnout was 60.4% of eligible voters of which 60.24% voted to approve the constitution and 37.75% against. The remainder returned blank votes. The acceptance was welcomed by the Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, as a step forward for Gibraltar's political development.

Relations with Spain

In a referendum on September 10, 1967, the people Gibraltar voted by 12,138 to 44 to reject the transfer of sovereignty to Spain and to remain under British sovereignty. This day is now celebrated as Gibraltar's National Day. In a referendum organised by the Government of Gibraltar on November 7, 2002, voters overwhelmingly rejected the principle that Spain and the United Kingdom should share sovereignty over Gibraltar, by 17,900 votes to 187 on a turnout of almost 88% .

Unlike most other British territories, Gibraltar has not been offered independence by the UK. It has been suggested that this is on the grounds that the Treaty of Utrecht, under which Spain ceded the territory to the British Crown, and which states that should the British Crown wish to dispose of Gibraltar, it must be first offered to Spain. However, the Gibraltar Government has pointed out at the UN that Article 103 of the UN Charter overrules and annuls this "reversionary clause".

Neither the United Kingdom nor Spain seem keen to test the legal status of Clause X of the Treaty of Utrecht in court. The remaining parts of the treaty that regulated such things as the slave trade, and the transfer of Minorca to the British, have become obsolete.

Spain argues that Gibraltar's status is an anachronism, and that it should become an autonomous community of Spain, similar to Catalonia or the Basque Country. It also argues that the principle of territorial integrity, not self-determination applies, drawing parallels with the British handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997. However, at the same time, successive Spanish governments have refused to countenance the handover of their north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco. The Junta de Andalucia (Andalucia's elected regional government) believes that Gibraltar should be integrated into its regional autonomy.

The Gibraltarians continue to assert that they are British, not Spanish. At the same time, the British Government continues to state that there can be no change in the status of Gibraltar without their democratic consent.

The Gibraltar Government has asked the UN Committee of 24 to refer the issues to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion, but Spain has lobbied against this. The Gibraltar Government has also invited the Committee to visit the territory, but so far, despite no objection from the United Kingdom, they have not done so.

Military

Gibraltar's defence is the responsibility of the tri-service British Forces Gibraltar. The army garrison is provided by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, originally a part-time reserve force which was placed on the permanent establishment of the British Army in 1990. The regiment includes full-time and part-time soldiers recruited from Gibraltar, as well as British Army regulars posted from other regiments.

The Royal Navy maintains a squadron at the Rock. The squadron is responsible for the security and integrity of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW). The shore establishment at Gibraltar is called Rooke after Sir George Rooke who captured the Rock for Archduke Charles (pretender to the Spanish throne) in 1704. Gibraltar's strategic position provides an important facility for the Royal Navy and Britain's allies. Ships from the Spanish Navy do not call at Gibraltar.

British and US nuclear submarines frequently visit the Z berths at Gibraltar. A Z berth provides the facility for nuclear submarines to visit for operational or recreational purposes, and for non-nuclear repairs.

The Royal Air Force station at Gibraltar forms part of Headquarters British Forces Gibraltar. Although aircraft are no longer permanently stationed at RAF Gibraltar, a variety of RAF aircraft make regular visits to the Rock and the airfield also houses a section from the Met Office.

The Rock is believed to be a SIGINT listening post for telecommunications throughout North Africa. Its strategic position also keeps it a key GCHQ and NSA base for Mediterranean coverage.

During the Falklands War, an Argentine plan to attack British shipping in the harbour using frogmen (Operation Algeciras) was foiled. The naval base also played a part in supporting the task force sent by Britain to recover the Falklands.