Mai wants to stop U.H.S. bleeding

Jose Abelardo Mai

Earlier today when Mai gave this interview he said the party’s parliamentary caucus is set to meet on Wednesday to formulate its official position ahead of the House meeting. However, the vote is not as simple as yea or nay. The U.D.P. holds a comfortable majority of seven, meaning that if at least sixteen votes against the motion it would fail. Nine U.D.P. representatives have publicly declared they would vote no against their own party’s motion. Quite apart from the constitutional crisis that might present, Mai asks his fellow parliamentarians: do we want to prolong this any further, and risk increasing the national burden?

Jose Abelardo Mai, Area Rep., Orange Walk South

“Our party parliamentary caucus is meeting on Wednesday, and we will decide the common position moving forward. But let me tell you something: if it was to imprison Dean Barrow by voting no, then maybe he should be imprisoned; maybe we should all vote no, to see him in prison. Because what he did is unacceptable. But the question parliamentarians are now faced with is what happens if we do not pay? The interest is almost one-point three million dollars per month, if we don’t pay. So you can go to the House and say well we won’t support this motion, and we won’t pay, but we are burdening the people with one point three million dollars per month in interest. The question we have to ask: is this the right thing to do? And to be honest with you, Dean Barrow does not need the Opposition’s numbers; he has enough numbers on his side to vote for or against. But do we act, again, irresponsibly, like in 2013, when he only had to pay thirty-six million dollars, and they said no, he will not pay and he played stubborn with the people’s money, and it has now ballooned to ninety million dollars. Do we want, again, a repeat of 2013? We are faced with a dilemma now in the House of Representatives, and Friday is going to be a very interesting day. I want to see them table a motion and vote against it. That [is going to be] a very interesting day.”