Concerned Belizeans to stage public protest
On Saturday morning, hundreds are expected to take to the streets of Belize City in an organized demonstration against the Government of Prime Minister Said Musa. According to the Association of Concerned Belizeans, abuse of ministerial power combined with bad economic decisions out of Belmopan, such as the Social Security Board’s ten million dollar loan to Sunshine Holdings, have forced them to plan a public forum where citizens can voice their frustrations. This morning, President of the A.C.B. Karim Berges told News Five every Belizean should stand up and be counted.
Karim Berges, Pres., Association of Concerned Belizeans
“People don’t want to be partisan and that’s one of the key issues. They want to be political but they don’t want to be partisan, and we have established ourselves as a political watchdog. So we are leading this demonstration based on public opinion that we get directly from people.”
“One thing politicians respect is numbers. They recognise that when you come out in numbers it’s significant to them because they don’t want to lose that political support that they will be removed from office or intimidated by that, and that is one key thing, to come out in numbers. And I tell people that you need to be vigilant of the policies that this government put in place, the economic policies. This is the only way we can exercise our democratic right. The way our political system is set up, it is set up in such that the minute that we have a majority count, its winner takes all. From there the leader of that party becomes Prime Minister and he dictates, he can dictate. It’s absolute power and the only way we can exercise and do participate in the political process, our democratic right, is to actually demonstrate… and this is the only way.”
A number of organisations have promised to support the rally including members of SPEAR, the Belize Chamber of Commerce, the United Democratic Party, the Association of the Business Community in Orange Walk, and the National Trade Union Congress.
