Elodio Aragon Junior Calls Out Julius Espat for “Tantrum”

Elodio Aragon

During the spectacle in the House on Friday, Junior Minister Elodio Aragon remained in his seat and observed the entire drama involving Julius Espat as it unfolded.  Today, he expressed disappointment with the conduct of his colleague.  Aragon says that Espat threw an unnecessary tantrum, despite the clarity of the standing orders which govern the House.

Elodio Aragon, Area Representative, Orange Walk East

“It was a real surprise to me. It was a real shocker because definitely I did not expect a representative of the people and someone who sits in the House of Representative would behave and comport himself like that. You know I think that we as representatives have to understand that while we are in the House, there are certain rules and regulations and we must abide by them. It is just like when you are in school, the teacher is the person in charge of that school. And you might not be happy with a decision that has been made, but you have to abide by the rules and regulations. It is not the first time that somebody has been named—not only in Belize, but across the world—but it is how you comport yourself. He should have removed himself from the House so the House Meeting could carry on because there were issues that needed to be dealt with.  I think he did an injustice to the country because with that, that created a fiasco and the House was adjourned. I think that as representatives, we must bear in mind that we are out there representing the people. And I did not go nowhere, I sat there and looked to see how this thing would unfold. We must understand the Speaker of the House has his authority there, and we must respect that. If we are not happy with it, then there’s means and ways to deal with that. I also believe that when honorable Julius resisted from leaving the house that is definitely where he compounded the issue, where the police had to be called in. And I think the police did a good job; they had a lot of patience in terms of trying to ask him nicely to remit himself from the House which he flatly denied and resisted. And I think the police did what they had to do to remove him within what falls within their lawful authority. And eventually he threw a tantrum. And as a junior minister that really surprised me. I didn’t expect that from the Honorable Julius; I thought that he had better sense in terms of how to deal with the issues like these.”