Barrow says no to the 13th senator
Dean Barrow
In its 2008 campaign manifesto, the United Democratic Party promised serious governance reform by introducing the idea of a thirteenth senator. That additional Senator would have come from the NGO community, and would have shifted the balance of power away from government. The immediate result would be a Senate with teeth, a powerful oversight body. The NGO community came up with their candidate, but in 2010 Prime Minister Dean Barrow did one of his now traditional about turns. After introducing the concept in 2008, the PM condemned it in 2010, stating that there would be no thirteenth senator. And Barrow has stuck to that position. He did so again at today’s press conference.
Reporter
“Do you intend to see that thirteen senator appointed?”
Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“No, do you see what’s happening in the United States where they have a system where paralysis is able to be engineered because the way that republican module work s you can have one chamber controlled by the party that doesn’t form the administration, one chamber Democrat, one chamber Republican. You see the difficulties they have been having with debt ceilings and shutdowns. No, the thirteenth senator will then mean that the senate will be controlled by the opposition and non-government senators and they will have the power to paralyze the government. I am very sorry, I am the one who pushed it into a U.D.P. manifesto, and this government pushed it forward in terms of constitutional reform. But then I quickly realized it is a wonderful ideal but in practice it will make no sense. The opposition is there to oppose, the so called social partner sectors are not there to ne friends of the government. And if you gave control of the chamber to that combination I am telling you there will be paralysis. Now other people might have a different point of view and I respect that but as far as I am concerned the role of the senate is to be a watchdog, is to shine the light on what is happening, It’s like the Public Accounts Committee it is not to substitute for the government, it is not to substitute for the government, it is not he frustrate the government, it is not to stop the government from operating, so I am telling you I cannot at this juncture, I cannot support the notion of any thirteenth senator.”
Mr. PM, if you can not convince one of the social partner senators to approve your measure, then it probably is not a good measure. A senate that is part of the governing party is no use. We don’t need them to shine a light, they are there to balance the power.
Dean, you’re the least indicated person to complain about the political system in the U.S. You should in no circumstance have the power to decide on a matter that concerns the country, hence it should be decided by the people. Arrogance in my experience is either a personality defect or more commonly an attempt to compensate for the absence of something. We all know that the decisions you make is to benefit you and your puppets.
Belize is a developing country looking to be supported by other countries like the U.S. Since over 50% of our trades are to and from the U.S. you should be very careful not to piss them off and have them impose and embargo on Belize. Stop ruining your reputation and start helping your country. Your offshore accounts are loaded you don’t need no more