P.U.P. Senator calls it quits

We saw it coming on Friday and less than a week later it has come to pass. There is a vacancy in the Senate tonight as Anthony Chanona, one of seven P.U.P. appointees to that body, has resigned. Chanona confirmed to News Five today that he has indeed submitted his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Said Musa and his decision is irreversible. Chanona declined to be interviewed, saying only that his dissatisfaction with the procedure and content of the recently passed Public Utilities Act prompted his action. He opposed that piece of legislation, which he believes erodes the autonomy of the Public Utilities Commission, and deliberately absented himself from Friday’s sitting of the Senate rather than vote against it. Chanona, a former Belmopan Mayor who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination as a candidate in the upcoming general election, was appointed to the Senate in April 2006 in a move that was meant to shore up the P.U.P.’s credibility against widespread charges of corruption. While his thirst for public service remains undiminished, it appears that Chanona could not deal with the time honoured tradition under which government and opposition senators read from a script that has very little room for improvisation.