Re-Districting before Re-Registration is Illogical, Says Kareem Musa

The P.U.P. also says that it denounces any attempt by the Commission to carry out a re-districting exercise before a re-registration exercise, since such an exercise, in its view would be giving validation to the out-dated, fraudulent and padded voters’ list. The last re-districting took place before the 2008 general elections and saw shifts in boundary lines for the twenty-nine established constituencies and the addition of two others, Cayo Northeast and Belmopan. Reports suggest that as many as forty constituencies will be drawn and re-drawn – but it will likely take place before re-registration does. Musa described this as illogical and putting the cart before the horse, not to mention validating an error-ridden and padded list. He gave us two examples: Belize Rural South, represented by Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia Junior, and Cayo West, represented by Erwin Contreras and bordering on Guatemala.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Deputy Leader, P.U.P.

“When you look at some of these divisions – for example, just as an example: San Pedro. Over a thousand people jump on the boat and jump on the plane and come to vote in San Pedro. So even though their numbers reflect that maybe there are six, seven thousand electors in that division, that’s not really the case; those individuals don’t really live there. And so for divisions like them and for Cayo West, it is imperative that we have a re-registration exercise to clean up the list, and so that voters can be placed and so they can vote in the divisions where they reside. So again, our party’s position is very clear: we want a re-registration exercise, and yes, we want a re-division exercise, but only after we overcome that first hurdle.”