Why don Gibraltarians want to accept the “generous” Matutes Proposals?
A5: Because the outcome is preordained- Gibraltar becomes Spanish regardless of the Gibraltarians’ wishes. Our constitution states that our sovereignty will not change “against the freely and democratically expressed wishes of the Gibraltarian people”. This mirrors UN Resolution 1514. Hence, as no Spanish proposal contains a mechanism for a referendum, and does not involve the removal of all restrictions (“freely” implies that the choice is made without duress, which Sr. Matutes has admitted are the reason for the restrictions), they have yet to pass the basic test of being constitutionally sound in Gibraltar. They are not even constitutionally sound in Spain, leading me to believe Matutes will not be good at his word (again). The Matutes proposals include several threats to increase restrictions, which have already been carried out. As such, they are neither generous or even remotely democratic.
