No ‘preconceived agenda’ in constitutional review, Picardo insists
A parliamentary select committee on constitutional reform will go about its work “with no pre-conceived notions” as to whether changes to the 2006 Constitution are either appropriate or necessary, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the Gibraltar Parliament yesterday.
Mr Picardo, who yesterday tabled a motion to establish the cross-party committee, insisted that it would only “review” the 2006 Constitution and report back to Parliament.
“This is not a commitment to a change,” the Chief Minister said. “This is a commitment to a review.”
The Chief Minister sketched out some areas where the review might focus, including matters that were left over from the wish list prepared by the Gibraltar team that negotiated the 2006 Constitution.
But Opposition leader Daniel Feetham said the GSD would only back the motion if it was amended to “safeguard” the party’s longstanding position that the 2006 Constitution already provided maximum self-government compatible with British sovereignty.
He said the GSD was “none the wiser” as to the Gibraltar Government’s aims in opening up a process of constitutional review.
“You don’t undertake a re- view unless you yourself take the view that something needs to be changed,” Mr Feetham said. “That’s the point.”
He added that the Opposition also believed that no substantive decisions on constitutional reform should be taken ahead of the June 23 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
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3rd March 2016
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