Another Delayed Judgment; P.U.P. Extremely Frustrated

John Briceño

The People’s United Party’s case against the Government of Belize regarding the spending of over one point three billion dollars, including the PetroCaribe funds that were borrowed from Venezuela, has yet to conclude.  The P.U.P.’s legal challenge revolved around four key points, including that according to the Finance and Audit Reform Act, public monies exceeding the amount prescribed under law must first be approved in the National Assembly before it is spent.  This, according to the P.U.P., was not done on several occasions, including the hundreds of millions of dollars under the PetroCaribe Programme.  The judgment was scheduled to be handed down earlier in the week, but the Chief Justice, who retires this year, reportedly fell ill, moving the decision to this afternoon. But that did not happen and according to a frustrated John Briceño, on Monday, the parties will learn when the judgment will be handed down. 

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“They informed our lawyer that on Monday they will tell us when they will be able to tell us when they will be able to give a judgment so we just have to wait, unfortunately.”

Hipolito Novelo

“Is it frustrating sir?”

John Briceño

“Extremely frustrating because the evidence is very clear that the government broke the law. It was unconstitutional what they did. Even the government’s attorney admitted that there was wrongdoing and that these monies were spent without the prior approval of parliament.”