BPF to Government: Give Us a Seat on the Re-division Task Force

The Belize People’s Front is demanding to have a seat on the Re-division Task Force, which the government has as its field supervisor, Collet Montejo, a P.U.P. Senator and a member of the People’s United Party’s executive. The Opposition, United Democratic Party has come out swinging against this appointment, asking for someone who is, “independent and professional”, Prior to the general elections, it was the Belize Peace Movement, which represented the smaller political parties, including the B.P.F. that filed an application in the Supreme Court asking the court to compel the Elections and Boundaries Department to do its job and notify Parliament that the redistricting was long overdue. The Peace Movement’s hope was that the court would order the government to undertake the exercise before the elections, but that was not the case. The application was not successful and the elections were held without the redistricting. Now the Belize People’s Front is holding the Prime Minister to his speech which he delivered at the Ninth Summit of the Americas in New York recently in which he called for inclusion and unity at this point in time. Leader of the B.P.F., Nancy Marin, said it would be the right thing to do to.

Nancy Marin

Nancy Marin, Leader, Belize People’s Front

“There has been a lot of political mischief in the past, being done as far as elections (are concerned), so it is a necessary process. The country has grown, the population has grown, so it is very necessary, but we believe that we must be included as part of all of the committees, but especially this one, regardless of the numbers of votes we garnered in the election. That shouldn’t matter in the process of democracy because we believe in inclusion, so we were very happy when the Prime Minister spoke at the Summit of the Americas, highlighting the need for inclusion and for unity in the Americas. We believe that all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean must start at home and they must promote unity and inclusion at home. We are very able and we are very willing to work with the government in the development of our country, but it is our utmost interest to safeguard free and fair elections.”