Mayoral deadlock may be broken, says Solicitor General

A new Mayor for Belize City might be in place by the end of the holiday weekend. Reports reaching News Five late this evening indicate that an official legal opinion on whether or not to allow absent Councilor Eric Kirkwood to vote by proxy was sought by the council and that a verdict has been handed in. Solicitor General Gian Ghandi told News Five that, it is his opinion that when Kirkwood was allowed to tender a proxy vote in the March selection of a Mayor, that a precedent was set, one which should be allowed to continue. The only issue of contention now is the fact that Kirkwood, who resides in the United States, has been absent from the council for a period exceeding the legal limit of six months. When he was allowed to vote in March of this year, he had only been gone a couple of months. News Five understands that with the Solicitor General’s opinion in hand, the City Council will be meeting at ten o’clock Friday morning at City Hall, at which time the envelope containing Kirkwood’s proxy will be opened. Up to news time, we could not confirm tomorrow’s meeting to break the mayoral deadlock, as the Acting Mayor was unavailable for comment. If Kirkwood’s proxy is indeed allowed, and indications are that it will be, Marshall Nuñez may after all become Mayor in his own right and lead the council into the next elections, due by the middle of March of 1999.