Ceremonial opening of the new Gibraltar Parliament

ALL of the recently elected MPs were formally sworn in at the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament with a new speaker Melvyn Farrell replacing outgoing speaker Adolfo Canepa.

The opening was presided over by the Governor of Gibraltar Ed Davis who gave a speech concerning the obligations of those now elected.

In response, the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo confirmed the pleasure that he had to return to the House and to be comforted by the continued support of the UK Government.

As ever, comment was made concerning the wish of the people of Gibraltar to continue to recognise British Sovereignty over the Territory and also the need for the United Nations to recognise that Gibraltar is not a colony and should not be treated as such.

He made much of the fact that freedom was an important word especially considering that the people of Gibraltar had been involved in two world wars and had seen the fall of the Berlin Wall and the independence of so many Eastern Bloc countries.

In addition, he referred to his government as being one which recognised that rights of all people regardless of race, religion or sexuality and that was in his opinion one of the reasons why his coalition party was elected for the third term running.

Other members of Parliament will present speeches over the coming days.