Belize Peace Movement Gives Redivision Report an F

A copy of the Redivision Report of the Elections and Boundaries Commission to the National Assembly has been leaked to the media.  Viewers would recall that the commission had attempted to prevent a divulgence of information from the report before it was tabled in the House of Representatives.  That effort to muzzle the press has since been rejected.  Nonetheless, the fifty-nine page document puts forward a number of proposals, including a reduction in the number of constituencies in Belize District.  It seeks to do away with Port Loyola and Queen Square, bringing the total number of divisions to eleven.  On the other hand, there is a proposal to expand the number of constituencies in Cayo and Stann Creek districts by two, while maintaining the existing thirty-one constituency arrangement.  But there are serious concerns surrounding the report, including the fact that its recommendations for the apportionment of constituencies does not align with international norms.  This morning, we spoke with attorney Arthur Saldivar, a member of the Belize Peace Movement, for an initial reaction to what is being presented in the report.

Arthur Saldivar

Arthur Saldivar, Attorney-at-law

“The initial reaction when this document was first seen was that it was garbage.  It was not worth the paper it was printed on because it did not in any way meet the requirements of Section Ninety of the constitution which was for them to ensure that the distribution of the voting population was as near equal as possible.  This does not do that.  As you’ve said, and in terms of the question that you have asked Paul, whether or not the exercise has been overshadowed by the PUP administration.  Their fingerprints is all over it, in fact, it has been so politically skewed that no person with any sense of objectivity could conjure to say that this document could be one that would have fairness be associated with it, should it ever be used in the conduct of elections in Belize.  So we are back to square one, we are back to the same problem that the BPM sought to have addressed initially in this matter.”