Opposition leader asks P.M. to call elections
When the House of Representatives meets on Friday morning in Belmopan, there will be no empty chairs on the opposition side. Leader of the People’s United Party Said Musa says his party will end its four month boycott of House proceedings tomorrow. The P.U.P. walked out of the House in January in protest over what they called the unconstitutional attempt to punish the party leader. Today Musa told News Five, the decision to return to the House is to deliver a message personally to the Prime Minister.
Said Musa, Leader, P.U.P.
“We have decided to go back to the House on Friday in order to make our position clear on elections and to put that position in the record of the House of Representatives. That position is that the mandate of this Government comes to an end on June the thirtieth, 1998. We believe that the people should be given the opportunity now to exercise their franchise and we are calling on the Government to call the elections. We will put that in the record of the House.
The position has not changed but what we are saying to the Belizean people is that when we do return to the House as the next government of Belize we will restore dignity and honor to the House of Representatives.
I don’t believe that the U.D.P. will change. A leopard does not change its spots. And they clearly will continue with their cowardly, bully tactics in the House of Representatives and this behavior that’s clearly demeaning to the legislature of our country. But at the same time although many of our followers will be disappointed, quite frankly, with our going back there are also many Belizeans that feel that we must uphold the constitution and do everything possible to uphold the institutions of government.”
Q: “You’re gonna call on the Government, on Mr. Esquivel to call the elections, is there anything to indicate to you as leader of the opposition, that the Government might be thinking of not calling the elections within the five years?”
Said Musa
“Yes, I believe that judging from the stuff they’ve been writing in their party organ that they have been trying to prepare Belizeans for a postponement of the elections. They’re trying to give an indication that they have up until October. In fact the mandate is very clear. When people went to the poles on June thirtieth 1993, they elected a government for five years and that mandate comes to an end on June the thirtieth. And in any event the Prime Minister will be forced to dissolve the National Assembly on July the fifteenth. So we are saying comply with the spirit of the constitution and comply with the mandate given to you. Your mandate comes to an end June thirtieth and you should call the elections by that day.”
Friday’s House of Representatives meeting, which starts at ten o’clock in the National Assembly building will deal with a number of new revenue related pieces of legislation.
