– Many of the proposals are already being implemented by Government
– Chief Minister will invite Azopardi and Clinton to meet to discuss consensus
– Select Committee will address many of the outstanding aspects of the GSD proposal
Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar noted the largely constructive statement from the GSD in respect of matters related to transparency and accountability.
The Chief Minister said: “I welcome much of what Keith Azopardi has announced, not least because most of it is already being delivered by the GSLP Liberal Government that I lead, albeit delayed by the global pandemic and the need to finalise the Brexit negotiations, and a lot of it is in keeping with the reform agenda that the PDP and the GSLP Liberals have been defending since 2011.
“I will not dwell on the more partisan aspects of what Mr Azopardi and Mr Clinton have said and will instead address the substance of their largely constructive proposals.
“We have made many positive reforms already, but as the world evolves and after a decade in Government, we must do more.
“That is why I already announced on Monday that Samantha Sacramento will be leading a Ministry for Standards in Public Life and Regulation.
“That Public Standards and Regulation Super-Ministry will deal with the Public Sector, the Parliamentary and Ministerial Codes, as well as the Anti Corruption authority.
“I am therefore pleased to see the GSD following that announcement with this similar set of proposals, none of which they implemented whilst in Government and many of which they breached, and trust we will be able to work together in the coming months to deliver many of these improvements by agreement.
“Additionally, I look forward to constructively considering other aspects of the proposal made today with Mr Azopardi in the Select Committee on Parliamentary Reform.
“Before then, I will be inviting Mr Azopardi and Mr Clinton to meet with me and the Deputy Chief Minister in order to seek consensus on our reform and Anti-Corruption agenda around the question of Standards in Public Life.
“I have no doubt we will find ourselves, aside from the usual day-to-day politicking, very much ‘on the same page’ on many of these issues.
“We must continue always to ensure that we deliver the utmost transparency and accountability to our people and reform our laws and procedures as practice internationally evolves.
“We will be the ones to deliver that change from Government now and the next election will, therefore, not be about these issues at all, given that we will have tackled all reasonable aspects of what Mr Azopardi has today referred to, and which may still be outstanding, well before the election is due next year.
“I look forward to a positive, cross-Parliamentary engagement on these issues in coming weeks and months.”
ENDS
