Mayor Bradley: Senate Misadventure “Stains” Country, U.D.P. Must Take Action

Brian “Yellow Man” Audinett

Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley is taking a tough stand on the fiasco at last week Wednesday’s public hearing of the Senate Special Select Inquiry.  The Mayor says shame on the persons responsible for the assault on the media and disrupting the proceedings. Today, when the media caught up with him over at City Hall, we asked him for his perspective on the Senate fracas involving members of his political party, namely the Chairman of the U.D.P. Alberto August and Macebearer Brian “Yellow Man” Audinett.  Here’s what he had to say.

Darrell Bradley

Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor

“What occurred is a stain not only on those people, but it is a stain to entire country. It affects me as a member of the party and I would wish that situations like that not happen. The media in our society discharges a very fundamental objective. The media provides a level of accountability and strengthens our democratic process. Those people, within the confines of certain rules of procedure and rules of decorum and professional standards which are ingrained in that profession itself, those people must be given open access. I was very dismayed by the fact that a session of the hearing had to be canceled, so that what you are doing is that you are in a resolve, subverting a very essential process. You are actually making it such that what is most important that the people be satisfied that whatever happened in immigration is properly dealt with; you actually undermine that. And any person who is involved in that – shame on them. I think that as elected officials we must hold one another accountable for our conduct and we must ensure that the business of government gets done. The fact that the hearing was not able to go on or they had to adjourn or delay a particular meeting or convening of that body is a great disservice to the people of this country. We need to hear that information. We need to hear it fully ventilated and we need to ensure that there is no further undermining of it; even if the undermining is inadvertent or accidental or whatever. You as a person who holds high office or a position in office, you must control your conduct and ensure that the business of government gets done.”

Andrea Polanco

“So, then, Mayor, do you think that the United Democratic Party should hold these individuals accountable?”

Darrell Bradley

“I think that as a member of the Party, I think that that should be done. I think also too in relation to the business of Government itself, because the National Assembly and so forth, again this is the highest; this is our parliament.   One of the problems that I feel is a true problem in our society is that we need to hold people accountable who hold elected and non-elected office; people who represent the public seal and the public good will and this is something that we try to speak about strongly at city hall in relation to transparency and accountability. We try to make it about issues and about advancement of the country. And the mere fact that you had actions which were disruptive, I think that that undermines every effort of legitimate government within our country.”