1st meeting of cabinet is short

It has been a long and eventful week for Belize’s ruling politicians and today that week ended with the first meeting of a new sixteen-member cabinet. That body is the product of compromise and it remains to be seen whether it is the type of compromise that pleases everyone…or no one. Any residual stress that may have remained from the weeklong brawl did not surface today, as, according to a government press release, the gathering was largely dedicated to exhortations by the Prime Minister on the doctrine of collective responsibility and the need to fulfil the P.U.P. manifesto. Those two items will be a tough sell, however, as the mass resignation by seven ministers flew in the face of collective responsibility and, most of the manifesto promises require money that the government does not have and is increasingly unable to borrow.

Cabinet will begin its real work on Tuesday when it meets in its first working session. Agenda item one, according to the release, will be the situation with the Social Security Board, followed closely by a review of government accounts and economic strategy.