No election date, but PUP seeks referendum on elected Senate

Even though the constitution does not require the Prime Minister to announce an election date in the House of Representatives it has been done in the past. So when the mace bearer entered the National Assembly this morning, there was more than the usual amount of anticipation in the air. I was among those watching closely from the press gallery.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Any speculation that Prime Minister Said Musa would use today’s special sitting of the House of Representatives to announce the date for general elections were quickly squashed.

Prime Minister Said Musa
“Madam Speaker I move that at its rising today the House adjourn to a date to be fixed by the Speaker.”

With the election issue out of the way, political wrangling turned to a Government motion to hold a referendum for an elected Senate.

Prime Minister Said Musa
“We believe the time has come for the people themselves to directly elect the Senate. Secondly, if the Senate is to perform a more meaningful role in our system, it must have its own legitimacy; an election rather than a selection. Thirdly, there is a healthy dissatisfaction with the present system of governance, people want more oversight on the executive, a greater check and balance between the Cabinet and the Legislature.”

Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“I believe that it is highly improper, I believe that it is thoroughly disrespectful, and I believe that it is completely unacceptable, nevertheless the house voted to give him leave and so we must proceed to debate this matter.”

“When will this referendum be held? The total absence of any details in terms of any sensible plan to move forward again is proof positive that this is nothing more than a political ploy. When will the referendum be held? … Does he want a referendum to be held on the same day as the general elections? Is that the idea, to try and distract attention from the real issues? To try and divert the peoples focus from the corruption and mismanagement and dishonesty and the fragrant lying of this government? Is that the idea? And if it is not supposed to be at the same time as the general election, where does he get his mandate from?”

Patrick Faber, Area Rep., Collet
“We have to ask, Madam Speaker, if they do not realise that they have been in power for going on ten years. Weren’t they the ones who have been in power so long? If they were serious, Madam Speaker, about all this kind of reform, would they not have introduced this kind of legislation a long time ago? It was tabled even, Madam Speaker, my colleague is informing me, back in 1992. Why is it that they did not pick it up then? Because Madam Speaker, the truth is that they are not seriously concerned about an elected Senate at all. They want to hoodwink, Madam Speaker, the people of this country because, as my leader pointed out, they have seen that the end is near. They have seen, Madam Speaker, that they will be rejected at the polls in a manner that has never been seen before in this country. Unu mi think twenty-six three mi bad, check weh wah happen to this set.”

Anthony Martinez, Area Rep., Port Loyola
“You di talk bout it’s only a referendum, weh you wah seh to di people deh? Weh you want outta it? How it wah work? What mandate yuh want outta it? How ih a work? Man mek wi be sensible. I just di tell unu because when di media attack unu one, one out deh then unu wah know exactly weh barley grow, just di hala yes fi yes sake. I challenge the media, all ah them seh aye, ask them how it wah work, who wah vote, who dah this, weh dah the question weh they wah pose? That is the thing, if we want wah sensible discussion let us look on all the models. Let us look on the question that we will ask to the people. None ah we can’t see that. All I just di seh, elected Senate if the people want it, I think it’s a good thing, but let us just look on the models”

Michael Finnegan, Area Rep., Mesopotamia
“Madam Speaker, let me tell you something, the hardest one ah them cross deh fi beat dah the member from Albert Division and in my view even him inna trouble. I am being very—that is my view, the rest ah them, dehn are dead duck, dead duck. That is my view. Well you know dah them raise it Madam Speaker, dah dehn raise bout the elections, so I could talk bout it. You noh stop them so I could talk bout it. Madam Speaker, in my view they noh stand wah Chiney man ghost of a chance. Finally, finally I want to be magnanimous Madam Speaker, I like the motion, but I will not support the motion until the necessary pieces put in place.”

“We envision the Senate to be not our party in government to have the majority of seats in the House, but we envision that the social partners and they as opposition will control the balance of power in the Senate. This is not saying this here. The P.U.P. could still end up control the Senate or the U.D.P. could still end up control the Senate because I don’t know who tell these independents out there that the stand a Chiney man ghost of a chance in terms of the elections. That’s my feeling. Respectfully that is my feeling. Respectfully, my feeling is that this dah wah P.U.P. and this dah wah U.D.P. country.”

Dean Barrow
“You’re not even going to be in office. You don’t have the majority to change the constitution and give the people an elected Senate now and you sure as hell won’t have it after March.”

“It is so naked a political ploy that it collapses under the weight of its own logical inconsistency. If that is the question you are asking people to decide, if that is the issue the referendum is supposed to decide, how you put in here already that “we believe”? You have already decided it. Who the hell are you?”

Prime Minister Said Musa
“When the baby wah bawl, it noh tek much. You noh even have to squeeze ah, noh, yuh just look pan ah too hard. Today we have not only looked them in the face, the Opposition, we have been squeezing them, we have pushed them into a corner and they didn’t know how to wiggle themselves out. That’s exactly what has happened today. The Leader of the Opposition started out by saying there’s been no consultation. Well, Madam Speaker, that is the very essence of what the resolution is about. Not only are we going to consult with the Opposition, not only are you going to consult with interest groups, we are not only going to consult with all the Belizean people, but we’ll allow all of them, all elected—all voters on the voter’s list to decide whether or not we should have an elected Senate. It is the greatest mode of consultation and dialogue as the Minister of Education pointed out a while ago. What was their second point, that this is a desperate gambit? There is nothing desperate about this. Who are the people who have been behaving desperately throughout this political campaign? Who are the people who organised people to bring out chainsaw to tear down a simple P.U.P. sign? That is desperation, that dah desperation. They so desperate they can’t even tolerate to look at a P.U.P. sign, it frighten dehn.”

“Of course there will be more consultation, of course there will be a model put before the Belizean people, before they vote. Of course all this will done, but today all we are asking them is to support, let the people decide. That is all and why are they hesitating about since they feel so confident about winning an election? It is that deep down they realise that the tide has turned and the People’s United Party will be back? That is it.”

Jose Coye, Area Rep., Caribbean Shores
“I feel strongly that we have an obligation to seek to rise on our own merits in this campaign, rather than to rise by pulling down. I believe that we should not seek to win an election with the hope that the other side fails. No Madam Speaker. Yes, if the government has failed in any of its management, I would expect the Opposition to raise those issues in the public discourse, but when an Opposition becomes so absolutely sure and so presumptuous and so arrogant, that it will definitely win the election and banking it on the failure of the government, to me that is cause for concern by the electorate.”

And after those pot shots, ironically the House then considered the Prevention of Corruption Bill.

Prime Minister Said Musa
“The bill imposes severe penalties for corruption and other offences. Madam Speaker, there are various, as you will recall this bill was deferred from the last sitting of the House because various amendments will be proposed in order to maintain the integrity of the bill, but also to clarify the language in certain instances to make sure that we are not looking to penalise inadvertent omission for instance in declarations, but really to deal with where persons knowingly give false information to the Integrity Commission. This bill is a manifestation of our commitment to good governance and the prevention of all forms of corruption in public life. We believe that this bill will go a long way to achieving our objectives of bringing about absolute probity, integrity, and accountability in public life.”

To which the Opposition only had one objection, to keep the period of scrutiny to the calendar year.

Dean Barrow
“Leave it the way it is, take out that particular amendment and I give it full support. Let everyone, it’s section ten (two) on the first page it starts, so that all of us that are here now will be caught and I have no problem, I will support it fully.”

Another hot topic on the table involved a bill to constitutionally remove the Privy Council as Belize’s final appellate court.

Francis Fonseca, Area Rep., Freetown
“Are you prepared to demonstrate through leadership on an issue that rises above party politics, or will Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition continue to shamelessly hang on to the coattails of the Privy Council and continue to question capacity the of Caribbean judges vis-à-vis their British counterparts. We shall see, we shall see, Madam Speaker. Those of us on this side of the House, who are privileged to represent the great People’s United Party, are very clear in our thinking on this matter. We know where we stand. We are the party of change. Abolish the Privy Council, bring on the Caribbean Court of Justice. ”

Michael Finnegan
“How yoh talk bout law and order when unu ignore the Supreme Court? The Maya Land thing, the B.T.L, Prosser rigmijig weh gone one. The court mek all kinda ruling but we look like we are not prepared to be governed by the rule of law. And den when wi come, wi come three-sixty round again and yoh try mek di country know how so important and how so serious we must be about our judicial system. Which is true, we should be, but yuh must stop being hypocritical and practice weh yoh preach.”

Ralph Fonseca, Area Rep., Belize Rural Central
“They noh hate the Privy Council man, they just believe that we should have fi we own appellate court, the Caribbean Court of Justice. Nobody hate or dislike the Privy Council, they just want us to move forward. They want us to get out of this colonial thing completely and that’s the last linkage we have with it. Even most of our British friends agree with us and you know that, you’re just doing this for politics. I am appealing to you all, I’m trying to stay away from provocative language, although it’s very tempting. I am appealing to you all reconsider this thing, please reconsider this thing. You are going to go down in history today with some serious black eyes.”

Prime Minister Said Musa
“They know that if some of them know that unless some of them were to vote for it so we have a three-fourths majority, that the bill will not pass. It is a sad day, another day of infamy brought on by a recalcitrant Opposition, so hungry for power they want to oppose everything today. This C.C.J. bill, Madam Speaker, is the third strike against the U.D.P. today. Strike one is when they voted against the elected Senate, even to put it to people in a referendum. Strike two was when they were forced to support the P.U.P. bill for the prevention of corruption. And strike three is now they are opposing the Caribbean Court of Justice. Three strikes, Madam Speaker, three strikes in one meeting. Three strikes, they will be out.”

But the Opposition was in no mood to give the Government the necessary three-quarters House majority.

Elizabeth Zabaneh, Speaker of the House
“His right is to ask for a decision. There may be members, there may be members who may want to vote alongside with sense. You usually ask for a division when you want it, Honourable Member.”

Dean Barrow
“No, no, no, no, you said—but I don’t want it. You said just now they’re may be members on the Opposition side who might want to vote for the government with sense. How dare you make any characterisation and value judgment, you’re supposed to be the Speaker, you’re supposed to hold things even and balanced. Don’t you presume to be judging us and the position we take on any legislation. You can’t side with that, what’s wrong with you?”

It is not clear wether G.O.B will attempt to push the referendum to be held simultaneously with General elections. In any case, no changes can be made to the constitution without the approval of three quarters of the house of Representatives.

Late in the session on a mation to adjourn, Opposition Leader Dean Barrow, produced documents showing that a large number of valuable parcels to well-known supporters of the ruling People’s United Party. Barrow, who said the land grants were made solely for the purpose of speculation, vowed that when his party becomes the government those transactions will be reversed.