…While Opposition Leader says government action is a slap on the wrist

Francis Fonseca

The P.U.P. leader also maintains that the actions which have so far been taken against disgraced former Minister of State Elvin Penner are lukewarm and not real. And the reason for that, he says, it that the U.D.P. continues to put politics before country. The margin between both parties in Parliament is razor thin, and if Penner and Castro are cast out, forcing bye-elections, the reins of power could shift completely.

Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition

“I think we shouldn’t beat around the bush. The reality is that Mister Barrow’s government is in crisis and he understands that if Penner and Castro falls, his government falls. That is the reality; that is what we are dealing with. So we the Belizean people and the nation of Belize are really being held hostage by a political party that is protecting its political interests and really abandoning the national interest. It is the outcry across the country for action to be taken against Penner, for action to be taken against Castro; it is almost unanimous. And it is only the U.D.P. and the hardcore U.D.P.s who still continue to defend these members of the government. So that is what we are dealing with regrettably. The Belizean people and we the People’s United Party continue to demand that there be a full, comprehensive, independent senate inquiry and investigation into this matter. That is the only thing at this point that I believe will satisfy the Belizean people. Mister Penner has not been questioned by anyone; he has not provided any answers to anyone in this country. He continues to move around, he continues to sit in the national assembly. So these slaps on the wrists: removing him as chairman of a house committee, taking away his government vehicle; those are things that the Belizean people expect should be done. What they want is a proper full investigation where Mister Penner is required to answer the tough questions, required to answer to the Belizean people who he represents in the national assembly. This is very important man, so the action that the government has taken is not enough, it is not satisfactory. And it goes back to the point that I have been making that we are dealing with a government in crisis, a government that cannot afford to have Mister Penner fall and afford Castro to fall because if they fall, the government falls. And that is why we are in this crisis where we can’t get action on these very serious acts of corruption.”