Max loses big ministry, gets small one
For those inclined toward biblical metaphors, it resembled the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. Movie buffs would be reminded of the climactic scene in Gladiator….while sports fans might have seen a young Muhammad Ali in his second fight with Sonny Liston. This morning Prime Minister Said Musa took a deep breath, planted his feet firmly on the ground and faced the biggest public crisis of his four-year-old administration. The result was a curious mixture of decisive leadership, moral amnesia, and political rope-a-dope that may temporarily quiet the critics, but will not erase all the doubts. Janelle Chanona reports.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“We are taking this matter very seriously. I’m deeply concerned, that’s why I’m here today dealing with this matter. It’s not something we’re gonna push under rug. We had the investigation carried out by General Usher, and that did not stop there, we made public his findings, which clearly suggests strong suspicion of fraud and irregularity. And the matter is being dealt with under the system that we have operating in our country. People who investigate alleged criminal activity is the Police Department in our country, nobody else.”
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Prime Minister Said Musa, facing off with the press, publicly addressing for the first time the storm of allegations in the latest immigration scandal. The charges are so severe that today the Prime Minister announced that Maxwell Samuels, the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration had resigned.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“The very fact that he has resigned I believe indicates that he accepts that he was the Minister during which time these alleged allegations of irregularities occurred.”
The changes in Cabinet were not vast, but several are crucial. The most significant is the addition of Home Affairs–particularly police–to the already weighty portfolio of Budget Minister Ralph Fonseca. The Department of Immigration has been transferred to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Assad Shoman. Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno adds the Ministry of Trade to his portfolio, while former backbencher Vildo Marin now takes over the Ministry of Works, the spot vacated by Henry Canton, as well as Economic Development. Minister of Tourism Mark Espat gets back on familiar territory with the Information and Broadcasting Ministries. And even though Samuels has ostensibly fallen on his sword, the former Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration was resurrected to head the Ministry of Communications, Transport and Public Utilities. While no one at this morning’s press conference saw anything but a fig leaf covering the appointment, the P.M. gallantly defended his loyal subordinate.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“The Minister has performed, a very good job as a minister when he held those portfolios of Transport, Communication and Public Utilities. He’s a hard working Minister. I have no doubt that he will deliver his constituency in the next election.”
While the official reason for the Samuels resignation is that it might pose a conflict of interest for the police officers investigating the scandal, the Prime Minister was quick to give his unqualified backing to the boys in blue.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“The Police Department is carrying out this investigation in clear consultation with the Director of Public Prosecution. And again let me say again, I have every confidence that they will carry out a thorough, fair and comprehensive investigation.”
But housecleaning aside, the P.M. does admit that there are serious flaws in the application process for Belizean nationality. And even though he outlined plans to rectify the system, he also tried to apportion some blame to the past administration.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“We have put into immediate effect the procedure that all applicants for nationality must appear in person at the Immigration Department. They must make a personal application and be interviewed by immigration officials, no longer can this be done by an agent or a consultant; that’s step number one. Secondly, we are restoring possible loopholes that were created some time ago. In fact I have in my possession, a letter that was sent from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the seventh of November 1996, to the Director of Immigration. “This is to convey the Minister’s decision to discontinue the requirement for the security interview and screening of referees for persons applying for Belizean citizenship by registration.”
According to the P.M., another loophole in the law is found in Section 10 1(b) of the Belizean Nationality Act, Chapter 161, which states that applicants must be “ordinarily resident in Belize and has been so resident for a period of five years immediately preceding the date of the application.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I have been advised by the attorneys that the expression “ordinary residents” can give rise to ambiguity. To what extent does it require physical evidence, what length of physical evidence does ordinary residents mean, and also does have the full punch of requiring legal residency in country. So that one of the issues we are taking up, it will require an amendment to the law, and that’s definitely one of the things–“
Janelle Chanona
“Are you indicating that that might be one of the reasons why these applications were allowed to be processed, that that clause might be the out in this case?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I’m not saying that, but I’m saying that the possibility exists that the law is too loose and it has to be tightened up and we do intend to tighten it up.”
And until the findings of the police investigation are disclosed, Musa also asked the Belizean public not to infer that every person of Asian descent in possession of a Belizean passport or nationality obtained such rights by fraud.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“In Belize today, we have Taiwanese, Chinese Belizeans, who have invested in Belize, who have made Belize their home. They form part of this dynamic engine of growth in a pluralistic society in Belize. And I believe we have to be careful not to paint with a broad brush every Asian who comes off a plane. Clearly, matters will have to be thoroughly investigated, but I think we need to be careful of not engaging or targeting any particular sector of our society.”
Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
When asked if the illegal sale of large numbers of Belizean passports constituted a global security risk, Musa acknowledged the possibility but declined to order the cancellation of any suspect passports, saying that he was content to let the police investigation run its course.
