Are Belizeans Contemplating a Change in Governance?

Francis Fonseca

The passing of the Queen of England has revived a subject that has been discussed previously, but with no definitive course of action.  Is Belize ready to do away with the Westminster model?  It’s a system of parliamentary government, first developed in England that incorporates a series of procedures for operating a legislature.  On Thursday, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca weighed in on the issue by saying that it’s a ripe time for Belizeans to revisit that conversation, since a People’s Constitutional Commission has been launched.

Francis Fonseca, Parliamentarian

“We have a unique opportunity coming up, we have the People’s Constitutional Commission which we have launched, so we have a unique opportunity in Belize as a people to define how we want this country to be governed moving forward and the governance structures that will exist. So that allows us to look at constitutional reform, to look at all the structures of governance in this country, including whether we want to continue with the parliamentary system, whether we want to keep the monarch as the head of state. All of those things are questions for the Belizean people. They will have to ultimately decide that.”