http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291936/Falkland-Islands-vote-remain-Britain-ballot-papers-disagreed.html
David Cameron today called on Argentina
to respect the wishes of Falkland islanders to
remain British after 99.8 per cent voted to stay an 'overseas territory'.
A total of 1,517 valid votes were cast in the south Atlantic
archipelago last night, a turnout of 92% of the islanders eligible to vote.
In a virtually unanimous message of defiance to the
Argentine government, 1,513 voted to remain under British rule, with just three
- 0.2% - voting against the referendum question 'Do you wish the Falkland
Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas
Territory of the United Kingdom?'
The Prime Minister said the 99.8% vote in favour of
remaining a British
Overseas Territory
in a referendum held on the islands over the past two days was the 'clearest
possible result there could be'.
Jubilant: Falkland islanders cheer after hearing the results
of the referendum to remain part of Britain
An overwhelming yes: 98.8 per cent of eligible voters in the
Falkland Islands voted to remain a part of Britain
He said Britain
would always be there to defend the islands. Speaking at 10 Downing Street just hours after the
result of the referendum was announced, Mr Cameron said it sent a clear message
to Argentina.
'They should take careful note of this result,'said the
Prime Minister.
'The Falkland islanders
couldn't have spoken more clearly. They want to remain British and that view
should be respected by everybody, including by Argentina.'
Although the result of the referendum was widely seen as a
foregone conclusion, the landslide delivered a resounding message.
Nigel Haywood, governor of the Falkland
Islands, said the referendum was a 'massive demonstration of the
way the Falkland Islanders feel and of the way they see their future'.
He said: 'Obviously it is a major principle of the United
Nations that a people have their right to self-determination, and you don't get
a much clearer expression of the people's self-determination than such a large
turn out and such a large yes vote.'
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Following the vote Mr Hague said: 'I welcome the result,
which demonstrates more clearly than ever the Falkland Islanders' wish to
remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.
'We have always been clear that we believe in the rights of
the Falklands people to determine their own
futures and to decide on the path they wish to take. It is only right that, in
the 21st century, these rights are respected.
'All countries should accept the results of this referendum
and support the Falkland Islanders as they continue to develop their home and
their economy. I wish them every success in doing so.'
Rule Britannia: Falkland islanders sing and celebrate as
their referendum result sends a message to Argentina
that they want to remain part of Britain
Waiting up: Residents waited outside Port
Stanley's town hall to hear the results as they were announced
shortly before 2am this morning
Our Islands, our choice: Nearly all of the residents of the Falkland Islands voting in a referendum chose to remain a
British overseas territory
The outcome of the two-day sovereignty referendum was
punctuated by the over 90 percent high turn-out of patriotic islanders eager
for their voices to be heard in the diplomatic row that has blown up more than
three decades after British forces repelled an Argentinian attempt to seize the
islands by force.
The residents voted by a huge majority to remain a British
Overseas Territory, with a ballot box turnout exceeding 90 per cent of eligible
voters.
Residents lined up for 30 minutes outside Port Stanley’s
town hall waiting to cast their ballots yesterday amid a festive atmosphere
that left the Falklands’ diminutive capital swathed in red, white and blue.
Posters bearing the slogan ‘Our Islands, Our Choice’ adorned
windows throughout the town and the post office produced a line of official
stamps to mark the occasion.
Voters turned up carrying Union Jacks on a procession of
horses and in Land Rovers swamped in bunting.
Centre of attention: Media crews await the result of the
referendum in Port Standley, Falkland Islands
In the minority: Only three voters choose to cast their
ballot against remaining part of the UK
In distant islands and far-flung sheep farms, ballot papers
were being flown and driven in by mobile polling stations.
‘We hope those undecided, or those uninformed, or those
countries that might otherwise be prepared to give the nod to Argentina’s
sovereignty claim might have pause for thought after the referendum,’ said John
Fowler, deputy editor of the islands’ weekly newspaper, the Penguin News.
‘This is an attempt to say “hang on a minute, there’s
another side to the story”.
‘For me, this referendum is extremely important because I
have no wish to be part of Argentina,’
said Rob McGill, 67, who runs a guesthouse in isolated Carcass Island
and voted by post.
‘I consider myself a Falkland Islander, but my ancestors
came from Britain,’
he added.
Some islanders are the descendants of British settlers who
arrived eight or nine generations ago and the Falklands retain an unmistakably
British character despite a sizeable community of immigrants from Chile and Saint Helena.
The count: Election officials count votes on the polling
counting table at the Town Hall in Stanley
High turnout: The Falkland Islands referendum saw a turnout
of more than 90 per cent of its eligible voters
Residents say fiery remarks by Argentine President Cristina
Fernandez and her foreign minister, Hector Timerman, have galvanized patriotic
sentiment on the islands, which lie nearly 8,000 miles from London
and just a 75-minute flight away from southern Argentina.
Tensions have risen with the discovery of commercially
viable oil resources in the Falklands basin and by Fernandez’s persistent
demands for Britain
to hold sovereignty talks over the Malvinas, as the islands are called in
Spanish.
London
says it will only agree to negotiations if the islanders want them, which they
show no sign of doing.
Argentina
has blasted the referendum as a ‘public-relations campaign’ and accused Britain of
pursuing ‘irresponsible initiatives in bad faith.’
‘This new British attempt to manipulate the Malvinas issue
through a vote by the population that it implanted is forcefully rejected by
Argentina,’ a foreign ministry statement said, citing broad Latin American
support for Argentina’s position.
Campaign: Islanders take part in the 'Proud to be British'
parade along Ross Road
in Port Stanley yesterday
Festive: A woman shows her off her T-shirt ahead of casting
her vote in the Falkland Islands referendum
Argentina
says the sovereignty dispute can only be decided between London
and Buenos Aires.
Argentina
has claimed the islands since 1833, saying it inherited them from the Spanish
on independence and that Britain
expelled an Argentine population.
Its attempt to take the islands by force in April 1982, drew
a swift response from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The 10-week war, which killed about 650 Argentines and 255
Britons, is widely remembered in Argentina as a humiliating mistake
by the brutal and discredited dictatorship ruling at the time.
In the islands, where plans for oil production to start in
2017 could further boost the flourishing local economy, most residents are
determined to maintain the status quo.
‘Our best-case scenario is for them to drop their claim and
realize that we are a people, we are a country and we do exist,’ said Gavin
Short, one of the Falklands assembly’s eight
elected members.
Asked if he thought that might happen, he said: ‘Not in my
lifetime.'
Voting day: A local resident participates in a vehicle
parade to show their support for voting yes to Britain in the referendum
British to the core: Falklands islander June Besley-Clarck
wears a wig with the Union Jack colours as she arrives to the Town Hall polling
station in Stanley
yesterday