Ashcroft Asks: Was It Really Worth It?
Michael Ashcroft
If you listen to the Government, most of its problems stem from past decisions, whether by the Said Musa administrations or by Lord Michael Ashcroft. At every turn there have been attacks on both throughout the three administrations of Prime Minister Dean Barrow. In our interview on Wednesday, the British peer, who also has Belizean citizenship, took aim at the Government’s efforts to turn the focus away from its own management, and essentially questioned every decision they have made since attaining office with this: was it really worth it all?
Lord Michael Ashcroft
“What the Government is doing in what we in campaigning call the ‘dead cat’ strategy: it’s when they’re losing, basically, the argument or the cases; you throw something else onto the fire to arouse the passions of people or the electorate. And in this particular case, it’s very easy to come to the type of question that you’ve just asked, without going back into the history of the matter, and saying: Should the Government be in the position it is now on these issues? Could it have handled it differently? Should it have compromised it years and years and years ago, rather than let it fester to where it is today? Was the nationalization really in the national interest at the time? Was it? Most of these are not of my making, and secondly, they’ve been going on for seven or eight years. Is it the fault of these people that this Government has run the economy into the ground, at this particular stage? Is it because the Government has got itself into this mess, that it’s wasted the Petrocaribe money; that’s mishandled the bond negotiations, and now finds itself in economic problems with its economy contracting? But irrespective of that – this could have been settled a long time ago – but irrespective of that, it can still be on offer to defer this over a number of years in the future to take the pressure off of Belize. But if somebody actually owes you sums of money, and says ‘Well, now I can’t pay it; will you just write it off?” Tough call.”
In Friday’s newscast we will have an extensive discussion with Lord Ashcroft on the arbitral awards and what role he plays in each company seeking its monies from Government.
