Friends of Belize say take 9th Amendment to referendum

In the heated and drawn-out debate over the proposed ninth amendment to the constitution, several independent thinkers have suggested that the controversial bill should be taken to a referendum. That view has been picking up steam since the debate on the ninth has been totally politicized. Well, today the NGO, Friends of Belize (FOB), launched a petition, collecting signatures to prompt a referendum on the proposed ninth amendment. According to the organization’s Executive Director, Tanya Usher, the ninth amendment is counterproductive and is a fundamental constitutional change that should be decided upon by the people.

Tanya Usher, Executive Director, Friends of Belize

Tanya Usher

“Our fear is that this ninth amendment is not only negatively affecting Belize’s reputation as a stable democratic country where the rule of law is respected; but will also negatively impact our ability to promote investment, to promote growth and to promote development  for the long term.  We have launched a petition to trigger a referendum on the ninth amendment bill. our goal is to collect ten percent of the signatures of the registered voters; that’s what’s needed to have the bill taken to a referendum. So we’re having our volunteers working all the districts to get the signatures—they must be registered voters—for those who would like the ninth amendment bill to be taken to a referendum.”

Delahnie Bain

“How will you go about collecting these signatures?”

Tanya Usher

“House to house, door to door. We have volunteers, like I said, in all the districts; we have the lists of the people who are registered to vote and we’re going to their houses, explaining to them what we’re doing and what the petition is all about, asking them for their support.”

Delahnie Bain

“And what about if people want to be proactive and come find you to sign the petition, how can they get in touch with you?”

Tanya Usher

“Thank you, yes. They can also come to our office at #6 Eyre Street in Belize City, the can call me directly at 627-5235. We have petition forms available. We have volunteers who will be coming to their homes but as you mentioned we are happy to take signatures at our office here in Belize City.  I think more than anything else, we see this ninth amendment bill as a bill, an amendment that is fundamentally changing our constitution. We’ve seen how divisive it has become; there are those who support and there are many who are against. And we ultimately feel that when something is doing what this bill is doing, which is as I said, fundamentally changing our constitution, it should be decided by the people and the best way to know what the decision of the people is, is to have it taken to a vote and have it taken to a referendum.”

According to Usher, they hope to collect all signatures by October twenty-second, which marks exactly ninety days since the ninth amendment bill was first introduced and before the government can take it back to the House of Representatives.