A Solemn Promise to Resign if Leader-elect is Proven to Have Accepted Dermen Monies
Going back to the possible consequences of either of the two leadership aspirants being found to have collected bribes from Dermen, PM Barrow says that should the convention proceed before the testimony is given, a solemn promise has to be made that once that individual is proven to have accepted monies from Dermen, he would have to resign from Cabinet despite victory at the convention.
Dean Barrow
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“If the trial is postponed and we have the leadership convention and a victor emerges and the new trial date is fixed and it is not six months from now, it is a month or two after the convention, I ain’t going no place until I see what the results of the trial will be in terms of the evidence led, you know. Or, alternatively, I would have to get a solemn sacred promise from the leader elect, made in front of the Cabinet and backed up in a way that I will explain, by the Cabinet, that if evidence emerged that he was the recipient of funds, that he will resign. And I would say to the Cabinet, I couldn’t force it, but I would expect that you would oblige him to resign for your own sakes, otherwise just pack your bags, leave and hand over the government to the P.U.P.”
Reporter
“As a follow-up, is this a cause of anxious worry as you are about to go off into the sunset…”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Indeed, I wahn go but this might keep mi longer. It is par for the course for any three-term administration. You can‘t expect that it will be other than a tough road to hold to be able to win a fourth term. But two things provide me with some comfort. You don‘t want to suggest that politics should ever be a race to the bottom or that Belizean people are to be faced with a choice between the lesser of two evils, but I would say that while the U.D.P. has made its mistakes, while there have been ministers that have engaged in wrongdoing or questionable activity, I and the party and the government have acted.”
