Redistricting Exercise Causes Stir Among Politicians in Belize City
Shyne Barrow
The redistricting exercise is a long-overdue process that is finally underway, but not without controversy. The redrawing of the electoral map across several of the thirty-one constituencies is causing a stir among area representatives from both major political parties. In Belize District, the idea is to reduce the number of constituencies from thirteen to eleven. Belize City alone is comprised of ten constituencies, including Fort George, Mesopotamia and Queen Square, each having less than the required number of registered voters. So how will the Old Capital be redrawn to reflect an equitable distribution of voters across the remaining constituencies? It’s a process that, according to the Leader of the Opposition, has been fraught with attempts to get extra votes unfairly. Earlier today, Shyne Barrow sat with reporters in his office at the U.D.P. Headquarters and shared his position on the process.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“What they initially proposed was a proposal littered with gerrymandering, littered with the worst types of political interference you could imagine. They wanted to eliminate Collet and they wanted to eliminate Queen Square, but we pushed back and we have come, we’re going to finalize it later on. After speaking to technical experts in redistricting, some of them that have advised the Belize Peace Movement, what the experts are saying should happen is that you should have an elimination of Fort George. Fort George and Caribbean Shores which is contiguous, should be put together. But again, for political reasons, the chairman of the PUP who is a sitting representative and his brother, who is also a sitting representative, they are not going to go down that route. However, they would want the party leader and the former party leader to clash over a constituency. So you have two UDP representatives, one of whom would be displaced, have to move from that constituency, with nothing happening with the PUP when, if you want to meet the constitutional objectives, the proposal should be to merge, to take Freetown, Caribbean Shores and Fort George, take that three and make two. That two would be some of Caribbean Shores and go to Freetown and all of Fort George would go to Caribbean Shores and they would have to figure that out.”
