A DAY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN BELIZE UNDER NEW GOVERNMENT

The report of the Sitting of the House of Representative that follows worries me. As a Belizean I have to wonder what this country is coming to when these two people, on who has the most power in Belize, and the other who just lost it, can talk to each other like this knowing that we are in the eyes of all the world. I take great shame in posting this blog and I pray that in the future the new government of Belize acts professionally for the betterment of this beautiful country which is going to the dogs if we are not careful. Let us work for Belize, gentlemen. It is time to accept that this country need strong men and not bickering ones.
Brenda A. Ysaguirre


REPORT OF THE SITTING OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIE HELD EARLIER THIS MONTH. AN EXAMPLE OF THINGS TO COME!!!
In the U.S. Military and some secret societies, there’s a process called hazing – it’s a ritual of initiation, which involves harassment, abuse and humiliation for the novitiate. And that’s kind of what Said Musa got today in his first session back to the House on the Opposition bench. Sure, Mr. Musa is no newcomer to the House, he’s in his 6th term, but he’s not been on the Opposition side for 10 years and he missed the first House sitting. So when he came today, the government side – particularly the Prime Minister – had a punishment in store for him. But the government majority didn’t have to go out of their way to get at Musa, it came up in the regular order of business.
That business started with the debate preceding the second teading of the Referendum Amendment Bill. It proposes to allow the public to trigger a referendum provided they get a petition signed by 10% of the electorate and provided that 60% of the electorate participates in the referendum. And it’s those provisions that the Opposition felt were too stringent.

Hon. Johnny Briceno, PUP Leader, “It requires the signature of the voters and then it continues, ‘the full name of the elector in block letters, his or her date of birth, the place of their residence, the electoral division in which she is registered, and any other such information that the Governor General may by regulation under this Act prescribed.’ I mean wow, that is certainly a lot that people would have to go through if they want to hold a referendum.”

Hon. Mark Espat, Area Representative for Albert“60% of the total electors in Belize or in any particular area or district, as the bill says, would have to participate in this referendum in order for it to be recognized. Yet even at 60%, even if we attain the 60%, the results would still not be binding. 60% is not easy to achieve Mr. Speaker. The recent referendum on the elected Senate for example, which the government chose to ignore, the referendum here in Belmopan on whether Belmopan was to become a city – neither of those two received 60%.”

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Area Representative for Freetown, “Because Prime Minister I think the general perception is that it is an in fact unattainable threshold.”

Hon. Mark Espat,“Mr. Speaker there is a far more serious issue. There is an issue of paramount concern, one that I would refer to as a Trojan horse in this Bill and that is the removal of the requirement for an automatic referendum on any proposed change to part 2 of the Constitution of Belize. The original referendum law would force any government to go to the Belizean people and ask them to approve changes to their fundamental rights and freedoms. It is an additional safeguard, another checkpoint if you will, against arbitrary altering of these sacrosanct rights and freedoms by a government with the super majority.
The proper thing to do is to make the case to the Belizean people to secure their support by way of a referendum. Belize does not need a Caesar, benevolent as he may consider himself to be, to interpret the will of the people for the people. That should be done by way of a referendum.”

Hon. Francis Fonseca,“People in other countries are dying to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms and here we are in Belize today moving to remove out of the Referendum Act the protection of those rights, saying to the Belizean people, ‘you will not have a right to vote on whether or not those fundamental rights and freedoms should be kept.’ That was put in there for a specific purpose, because all of us, the entire world community appreciates the vital importance of protecting those rights and freedoms.”

Hon. Patrick Faber, Collet Area Rep, “Mr. Speaker but it is important that I point out as Chairman of the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee that when the official opportunity was presented for members on that side to make their contributions, not even one of the members on that side made their way to Belmopan to contribute to the debate.”

Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Fort George Area Rep, “The fundamental issue at stake in this bill, which is the reason why I support my colleagues in saying we cannot support this bill, is because it is a ‘one-two punch’ that the government is hoping to put on the Belizean people. The first punch is to pass this referendum amendment. The second punch, straight to the temple, is to take away their right, by abrogating their right under chapter 2 of the Constitution.
How can the Prime Minister call this a reform measure? It is more a deform measure affecting the rights of the people. The amendment is not only anti-democratic, it is a sinister ploy, like I said to set the stage for the government to be able to abridge citizen’s rights by amending the constitution with their three-fourths majority without allowing the people to express their opinion on the matter.”

Hon. John Saldivar, Belmopan Area Re,“I sit here and from my layman’s point of view, I am not a trained lawyer, but I’ve heard at least the two lawyers on the other side now get up and complain about the fact that we are repealing the section of the Referendum Act as it pertains to these special freedoms. And I have to ask myself Mr. Speaker, if the constitution is the supreme law of this land, how can we have a law which is lower than our constitution suggest how we should go about changing our constitution.
If it is the will of the people that we go to a referendum to change the constitution then it must be enshrined in the constitution and not in another law. And so that is the difficulty I am having with the representation the Honourable Member for Albert and the two legally trained people on the other side Mr. Speaker.”

Rt. Hon. Said Musa,“They know how to attack people but they can’t take criticism.”

(Here the representatives of the other party excahnge words with the Rt. Hon. Said Musa)

Rt. Hon. Said Musa,“Mr. Speaker, there they are resulting to insults and offensive language, totally contrary to the Standing Orders of this House. They can’t take it, when you tell them the truth about what’s happening.”

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister“Tell us...how you betray the Belizean people.”
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,“It seems like I have riled up the government. They have all the power. You all have all the power. I am simply stating what this bill is proposing to do and why are they afraid for the Belizean people to hear it.
Mr. Speaker I really object to this unparliamentarily language that’s being used today.”

[Dean Barrow talking, applause follows.]

Rt. Hon. Said Musa,“This is the behaviour of our Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker. I understand an application has been made to the Supreme Court...”

Hon. Dean Barrow,[Interrupting Musa] “You are a traitor to this Belizean nation. You will get no quarter from me. Not you.”

Rt. Hon. Said Musa,“Mr. Speaker the slings and arrows of great fortune and vindictiveness I am used to from that Opposition, from that government. I am used to that Prime Minister firing off all his slings and arrows. But I will not be intimidated, Mr. Speaker. I want him to know this and I want all the members to know this. I will stand here because the people of Fort George put me here to defend their interests and when I see that matter threatened, I will speak out.”

Hon. Dean Barrow,“My remarks that I will make sitting here, from my seat, so as to offend you Mr. Speaker or the rules of the House, there will be no restraint because that member for Fort George, I consider to have betrayed the Belizean people in serial ways, in multiple ways. This is the man who signed a witness statement, who did a witness statement against Krem, against the owner of Krem who has been his friend for almost 40 years. That is the measure of the man that sits over there and that used to lead this country, representing Fort George. Him I will give no quarter.
I don’t think he has a clue as to how hated and reviled and disgusted he is in this nation. And it is not personal. It is because of what he has done we are grappling with all those, I can’t even call them contracts – all those betrayals that he signed. Anyway, Mr. Speaker let me content myself with saying that him I will give no quarter.
Obviously he is either a fraud or a fool. He is a lawyer. He has been a lawyer for a long, long time, far longer than I and he ought to have known what it took a layman, the Minister of the Public Service to point out to him. So if he didn’t know it, as I said, he is a fool or at the very best an ignoramus a lawyer. And if he did know it, he is a fraud.
The fundamental rights provisions in the constitution can only be altered in the manner prescribed by the constitution. And the constitution in fact contains such prescriptions. You get a three-fourths majority, the constitution says, you wait ninety days, you have the Senate subscribe to it by a simple majority and that’s how you can alter chapter 2 of the constitution. Any ordinary law is subject to the constitution.
So when he passed the Referendum Act with that particular feature, again he talked about misleading, from those days his proclivity for falsehood and deceit was obvious. He put that in the Referendum Act knowing full well that that was fool’s gold, that that was cosmetic window dressing and in fact it was meaningless.
If you had known this, if you had been anything of a lawyer in 1999, you would never have inserted a provision that was from the start unconstitutional. That’s why we are taking it out because we don’t fool the public.”

The Referendum Amendment Bill was one of 7 bills takes for second and third readings today. We’ll tell you more about the others later on.