He was asked by a group of Gibraltarian politicians to return to Gibraltar and was elected a member of the House of Assembly in 1972, as a candidate of the Integration with Britain Party (IWBP). In 1969, the IWBP leader, then the Chief Minister, Sir Robert Peliza, was the mover of the Preamble to the Constitution[3] which safeguards Gibraltar from ever passing to Spain without the expressed wishes of the Gibraltarians. He became the Branch Officer for the Transport and General Workers Union (responsible for the public sector in Gibraltar and was the main force behind the attainment of parity of wages with the UK for Gibraltarians).[citation needed]
He consistently maintained a hard-line stance against any sovereignty deal with Spain without the consent of the Gibraltarians. In 1980, he led a demonstrations of about 2,000 Gibraltarians protesting at the opening of negotiations between Spain and the United Kingdom agreed on the Lisbon Agreement.[4]
In 1987, he supported the position of the Government of Gibraltar and the Assembly against any agreement between Spain and the United Kingdom with regard to the joint use of the Airport of Gibraltar. On 10 November, Bossano and Joshua Hassan, then Chief Minister, led a demonstration of about 12,000 Gibraltarians, one of the largest ever held in the territory.[5]
In the key 1988 election, Bossano's party called for the self-determination, expressed its opposition to the negotiations over the sovereignty and future of Gibraltar between Spain and the United Kingdom, and opposed to any transfer of sovereignty to Spain. It also asked for the withdrawal of the negotiations on the Brussels Declaration and opposed to the Airport agreement. The GSLP got 8 seats and a 58.2% of the popular vote. Bossano received a personal vote of 8,1128, about 4,000 more than his contender, Adolfo Canepa.[7] Thus, Bossano was the new Chief Minister.
His re-election in 1992 with a 72% share of the vote (using the campaign slogan "Give Spain No Hope"), caused considerable friction with governments in both London and Madrid who were looking for a solution to the 30-year-old Spanish claim to Gibraltar. As Chief Minister he maintained good relations with Spanish politicians at municipal level,[citation needed] but would not sit to discuss the sovereignty of Gibraltar with them. During his time in office, Bossano also oversaw significant economic change, resulting from the decline of traditional sources of employment, such as the UK Ministry of Defence, and the creation of a private sector economy based on offshore finance and tourism.[citation needed]
He helped resolve the severe housing problem existing in Gibraltar before he came into power, by reclaiming land from the sea and constructing hundreds of affordable flats, which were offered at very reasonable prices. For the first time, and since then, Gibraltarians have become home owners, rather than renting from the government, as was traditional.[citation needed]
As leader of the GSLP and the Opposition and following his retirement as party leader, Bossano is still prominent in Gibraltar politics. He stood down as GSLP leader in April 2011, replaced by Fabian Picardo. Bossano remains active in politics and was a GSLP candidate in the Gibraltar general election in December 2011. Upon the GSLP-Liberal victory, Bossano got a seat in the Gibraltar Parliament and was appointed Minister for Enterprise, Training and Employment by the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo.[8]
The GSLP-Liberal government under Fabian Picardo won a second term at the 2015 general election and as of 2017, Bossano held the position of Minister for Economic Development, Telecommunications & the Gibraltar Savings Bank.[9]
In 1992-1993, when serving as Chief Minister, he told local media that if international law states that a Moroccan man, with his "4 wives and 10 kids", are required to enter Gibraltar easily, he responded saying that he and his family would not come. Later at the UN, he stated that he would still disobey international laws on immigration.
These comments offended the local Moroccan community, whom they said they don't know anyone in Gibraltar with such a large family as quoted by him. The Moroccans were pivotal for Gibraltar for some time since they replaced the Spanish workers lost when the border closed in 1969 and the vast majority were still living and working in squalid, inhumane conditions 30 years on. This sparked a community protest against racism. The whole incidents was later brought up again on social media at the 2023 General Elections (to which Sir Joe was contesting for reelection as Economic Minister).
On 31 July 2023, on the 'Today Gibraltar' section on GBC's Radio Gibraltar, he had an interview where he, in regards to Supported Employment for the Disabled, he expressed the process as 'Protected' Employment and that disabled employees might not be as engaged and productive on the workplace as Neurotypical people and that they might need more sick leave than others.
This sparked negative reactions from the Disability Society and SNAG (Special Needs Action Group), who they described the comments as 'bordering on insult' and 'promoting Ableism'. On the next day on the same section, he was asked whether he would apologize to the people he may have offended, to which his response was that he will stand with his comments and not apologise.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joe Bossano.
The politics of Gibraltar takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic British Overseas Territory, whereby the Monarch of the United Kingdom is the constitutional head of state represented by the Governor of Gibraltar. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar is the head of Government. As a British Overseas Territory, the Government of Gibraltar is not subordinate to the Government of the United Kingdom. The British Government, however, is responsible for defence and external affairs but Gibraltar has full internal self-government under its 2006 Constitution.
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 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.
The Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) was a political party in Gibraltar.
Dr 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 holds two of the 17 seats in the Gibraltar Parliament after the 2023 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.
Gibraltar National Day, celebrated annually on 10 September, is the official national day of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The day commemorates Gibraltar's first sovereignty referendum of 1967, in which Gibraltarian voters were asked whether they wished to either pass under Spanish sovereignty, or remain under British sovereignty, with institutions of self-government.
The Gibraltar Constitution Order 1969 was published on 30 May 1969 as an Order in Council.
Gibraltarians are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
Keith Azopardi is a Gibraltarian lawyer and politician serving as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Gibraltar Social Democrats since 2017.
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. He was narrowly re-elected for a fourth term in the 2023 Gibraltar general election.
Prof. John Emmanuel Cortes, MBE, is an ecologist, zoologist, Justice of the Peace and Gibraltarian MP, member of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party. He is married and has two children.
The Hon. Damon James Bossino, MP, is a Gibraltarian barrister and Member of the Gibraltar Parliament representing the Gibraltar Social Democrats. He is married to Rosa Arrimadas from Spain with whom he has three children.
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.
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.
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 12 October 2023 to elect all 17 members of the fifth Gibraltar Parliament. This was the first election in Gibraltar's history to use an electronic voting count system. The GSLP–Liberal Alliance secured a fourth term in office, though it saw its majority reduced to one seat, whilst the GSD became the sole opposition party, gaining two seats.
↑ Garcia, Joseph J. (1994). "The 1969 Constitution". Gibraltar, The Making of a People: The Modern Political History of Gibraltar and its People (1sted.). Gibraltar: Mediterranean SUN Publishing Co. Ltd. pp.150–155.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
