Opposition Leader Says 11th Amendment is “Hogwash”
But, is the Eleventh Amendment a strategic attack against the Leader of the Opposition? The Briceño Administration argues that it is not. But with a criminal record, Barrow views the amendment as nothing more than a weaponization of the Constitution of Belize. Here is a brief excerpt from his contributions to the debate.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“What hypocrisy and what hogwash Madam Speaker, this Eleventh Amendment is nothing more than a weaponization of the constitution of Belize to attack a political opponent madam speaker, none other than the Prime Minister when they first brought it to the House told me this will not fly, he will not stand for this. Beyond him, the social partners wrote to the partner’s madam speaker to express great alarm to the piecemeal approach to the constitutional amendments that were coming forward and they requested an immediate cease to such arbitrary actions. I quote, the most egregious, arrogant act of any Belizean government since independence is how one constitutional lawyer described this. You go to Dylan Vernon , when the bill first came out he said, my first impression is that Belize will be unique in the Commonwealth, Caribbean at least for having this sort of amendment in the constituent if past, which will prevent someone from participating fully in a democratic process based on a past offense. We have to understand what this is; this is no simple amendment of the constitution.”