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Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Albert Risso Joshua Hassan Adolfo Canepa |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Dissolved | 1991 |
| Ideology | Civil rights Liberalism Civic nationalism Populism [1] |
| Political position | Centre left [ citation needed ] |
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 Gibraltarportal |
The Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) was a political party in Gibraltar.
The AACR was established in 1942 by Joshua Hassan and Albert Risso, and sought to protect the interests of families evacuated during World War II. [2] At the time, most of the Gibraltar population had been evacuated and only a small number of Gibraltarians remained on The Rock. Consequently, the colony was crowded with British soldiers, sailors and airmen. They received wide support from the Governor, General Mason-MacFarlane (later a Labour MP in the United Kingdom), who allowed them to fulfil the representative role that the Committee of the Exchange and the Commercial Library used to fill. The Governor also left the AACR with the responsibility of managing the leave scheme that allowed the Gibraltarians who remained on the Rock to visit their families in Britain. They also took a leading role in the repatriation of the Gibraltarian evacuees.
In 1945 the AACR became a political party, advocating improved pay and working conditions and the introduction of a democratic constitution. [2] In August 1945, the first City Council elections since the war were held and the AACR won all the elected seats in the Council, with Hassan became its chairman. In the first elections to the new legislature in 1950, it won three of the five seats and was able to form a government. [3] The party won successive elections in 1953 and 1956. The 1959 elections saw it win only three of the seven seats, but with the other four held by independents, it was able to continue in government. [3] This was repeated after the 1964 elections, but the results of the 1969 elections (when it added "Gibraltar Labour Party" to its name) [4] saw two new parties, the Integration with Britain Party and Isola Group win eight of the 15 seats between them, allowing them to form a government. [3]
After a member of the Isola Group defected in 1972, early elections were called, which saw the AACR win eight of the 15 seats and return to government. [3] The party won subsequent elections in 1976 and 1980.
After victory in the 1984 elections Hassan resigned without completing his term as Chief Minister in 1987 after an agreement on the shared use of Gibraltar Airport was signed by Spain and the United Kingdom, citing personal reasons. He was succeeded by the then Deputy Chief Minister, Adolfo Canepa. However, Canepa lost the 1988 election to Joe Bossano of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP), winning only seven seats and forming the opposition in 1988. In 1992 they failed to return to power and were effectively dissolved thereafter. The last election with an AACR candidate was the 1998 by-election following the death of Robert Mor of the GSLP. The AACR candidate John Piris received only 337 votes and was defeated by Joseph Garcia of the Liberal Party of Gibraltar (LPG), backed by the GSLP.
Until the 1960s the party was linked with the Gibraltar Confederation of Labour, which it had founded. However, the links with unions began to weaken thereafter. [4] The party had a pragmatic and progressive policy platform, [2] and aimed to strengthen relations with Britain, but also give the territory freedom. This was reflected in its campaign slogan "With Britain, but not under Britain". [4]
Like all other major Gibraltar political parties, it opposed transfer of sovereignty over Gibraltar from the United Kingdom to Spain.
On 10 December 2007 the Self Determination for Gibraltar Group awarded the founding fathers of the AACR with the Gibraltar Award in recognition of their contribution to the political development, democratisation and emancipation of Gibraltar. The award was presented to Adolfo Canepa, the last AACR Chief Minister to hold office, in John Mackintosh Square on the 59th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [5]
The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) is a liberal-conservative, centre-right political party in Gibraltar. The GSD was the governing party for four successive terms in office under the leadership of Peter Caruana, from the 1996 general election until the party's electoral defeat in the 2011 election by the GSLP–Liberal Alliance.
The Liberal Party of Gibraltar is a liberal political party in Gibraltar. It was founded in 1991 as the Gibraltar National Party and is led by Dr. Joseph Garcia. The LPG forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party.
The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) is a social-democratic political party in Gibraltar. The GSLP is the oldest surviving active political party in Gibraltar. Its roots are based in the trade union movement, as its founder and former leader Joe Bossano was the District Officer of the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU). The party has been led since 2011 by Fabian Picardo, who has served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar since the 2011 general election. The GSLP forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Liberal Party of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar elects on the national level a legislature. The Gibraltar Parliament has 17 members, all elected for a four-year term in one constituency with each voter getting to vote for their selection of ten candidates. Gibraltar forms a single constituency but voters have only ten votes. Hence the electoral bloc with the most votes will normally get ten seats and the runners up seven.
Sir Joseph John Bossano is a Gibraltarian politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1988 to 1996 and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party from 1978 to 2011. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1984 to 1988 and 1996 to 2011.
Joseph John Andrew Garcia is a Gibraltarian historian and politician, and the current leader of the Liberal Party of Gibraltar (LPG) and Deputy Chief Minister of the Government of Gibraltar. The LPG controls three of the 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament after the 2011 general election and is in government with its political allies, the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP).
Sir Joshua Abraham Hassan, nicknamed "Salvador" (Saviour), was a Gibraltarian politician, and first mayor and Chief Minister of Gibraltar, serving four terms as chief minister for a total of over 20 years. He is seen as the key figure in the civil rights movement in Gibraltar, and played a key role in the creation of the territory's institutions of self-government.
Adolfo John Canepa, CMG, OBE, GMH is a Gibraltarian politician. He has dedicated most of his life to politics and the development of Gibraltar, having served both as Leader of the Opposition and as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 8 December 1987 to 25 March 1988. During this period he was also the leader of the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR). He is a former Speaker of the Gibraltar Parliament.
The Integration with Britain Party (IWBP) was a political party in Gibraltar. Although it never won an election, it was briefly in power from 1969 to 1972 when Robert Peliza of the IWBP was Chief Minister.
The Democratic Party for a British Gibraltar (DPBG) was a Pro-British political party in Gibraltar.
Maurice Xiberras GMH was a Gibraltarian teacher, trade unionist and politician. He was regarded as being a strong defender of British sovereignty, who believed there was no future for Gibraltar without the continuing close relationship with the United Kingdom.
Peter Joseph Isola, OBE, GMH, was a Gibraltarian politician and lawyer. He succeeded Maurice Xiberras as leader of the Democratic Party for a British Gibraltar (DPBG).
Fabian Raymond Picardo is a Gibraltarian politician and barrister serving as Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party since 2011. At the 2015 and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, Picardo was re-elected to two further four-year terms.
The Hon. Gilbert Horace Licudi is a Gibraltarian barrister and former Minister (2011-2020) and former MP (2007-2023) of Gibraltar, member of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP). He is married and has two children.
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea. During the early days of the British administration, Gibraltar was maintained primarily as a military outpost with limited attention paid to its role as a trading post. Initially long term settlement of Gibraltar was uncertain but as Spain's power waned it became established as an important base for the British Royal Navy. Throughout the 19th century there was conflict between the competing roles of military and trading posts, leading to tensions between the civilian population and the Governor of the day. Some Governors encouraged the development of the civilian role in government, whilst others regarded it as a nuisance. As a result, compared with other former British colonies, civilian Government in Gibraltar emerged largely in the 20th century as the needs of the civilian population were often considered by Governors as subordinate to the needs of the military. Since World War II, Gibraltarians have increasingly asserted their own individual identity. The Rock's relationship with Spain and the sovereignty dispute continues to affect the Politics of Gibraltar to this day.
A by-election was held to the Gibraltar Parliament on 4 July 2013 to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Housing Minister Charles Bruzon in April 2013. The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP), Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and an independent contested the by-election. The Liberal Party of Gibraltar who is in alliance and in Government with the GSLP backed the GSLP's candidate.
The Hon. Albert J. Isola TEP is a Gibraltarian barrister and politician, member of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP). He was a member of the Gibraltar House of Assembly as part of the Opposition between 1996 and 2000. He later became a Government Minister for Financial Services and Gaming after becoming elected to Parliament in the 2013 by-election. Isola is married and has four children. On 15 September 2023, it was announced that he and fellow party MPs and Ministers, Paul Balban and Samantha Sacramento, would not stand for re-election.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 24 March 1988. The elections were a watershed in Gibraltar politics, as they saw the first win by the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP), led by Joe Bossano, whose candidates took 58% of the popular vote and eight of the fifteen seats available in the Gibraltar House of Assembly. Bossano's party took control away from the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR), under outgoing Chief Minister Adolfo Canepa. The AACR had been the dominant political party in Gibraltar politics for over forty years and had won every election but one since 1945. After this, it was never to win another general election, while Bossano was to remain in office continuously for eight years, from 25 March 1988 to 17 May 1996.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 26 January 1984. The Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) administration of Joshua Hassan was re-elected for a further term.
Maria Isabel Montegriffo, known as Mari Montegriffo was a Gibraltarian politician. She was a Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party member of the House of Assembly from 1984 to 2007, the first female Mayor of Gibraltar (1988–95), as well as the Minister of Medical Services and Health and the Minister of Sport in Joe Bossano's administration.
| Represented in Parliament | |
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| Formerly represented in the European Parliament | |
| Defunct | |
