PUP charges Saldivar and Belisle with conflict of interest

In news from the political front, opposition leader Said Musa has sent off a letter to the Prime Minister and its not to invite him to a cocktail party. In his communication, Musa draws the attention of the P.M. to what he claims is a breach of Section 121 of the Constitution of Belize by two top ranking members of the U.D.P.: Denton Belisle, General Manager of the Social Security Board and John Saldivar, Managing Director of the Reconstruction and Development Corporation. P.U.P. Secretary General Godfrey Smith says the pair are attempting to have their cake and eat it at the same time, something which he says is specifically forbidden by the constitution of Belize.

Godfrey Smith, PUP Secretary General

“By being officers of Statutory Corporations and Standard Bearers at the same time, we’re saying it places them in a position of conflict of interest which is prohibited by section 121 of the Belize constitution. Specifically, we have observed that both those gentlemen have been engaged in during working hours, political activity, mainly using government vehicle for political purposes as well as distributing political leaflets, wearing political T-shirts during working hours…this is not the first time we have challenged the constitutionality of conduct or actions taken by the present governments, to date the list of things that we have challenged remain completely unredressed, unaddressed by the government or by the courts…if you look at Section 121 of the Constitution Patrick, it says that such persons who are officers of Statutory Corporations should not place themselves in a position or positions where they have a conflict of interest or could have a conflict of interest, so its termed very broadly so that in fact we would not have to identify specific acts where conflict of interest arise, just a potential for conflict of interest.”