Wendy WilliamsA GENERAL election is to be held in Gibraltar before Christmas.
The news slipped out during an interview that Chief Minister Peter Caruana gave to a Spanish radio station last week.
Rather than telling the local electorate directly, Caruana broke the news to Campo de Gibraltar radio station Cadena COPE.
It is not yet known how this apparent mistake will be received by the voters but it removes speculation that the election could be carried over until next year which has been prompting criticism from opposition politicians.
The standard practice is for an election to be called no later than a month after the fourth anniversary of the first session of the current parliament.
Since the current parliament first met on November 7, 2007, the election should not be later than December 7.
It is now believed the election will be called in October for November.
Meanwhile, the latest voter polls suggest Fabian Picardo could be the new Chief Minister with the GSLP currently showing a 5.6 per cent lead over the GSD, led by Caruana.
