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On October eight, the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee met in Belmopan. On the table were amendments to the Criminal Code, officially proposed to strengthen the protection of children against sexual offenders. It’s the worthiest possible goal, say government and social proponents – and the churches agree. They just don’t exactly agree on some of […]
Written on October 17, 2013 | Posted in
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Prime Minister Dean Barrow left the country today for Los Angeles California and was hoping that he would have accepted Elvin Penner’s resignation from the U.D.P. and as area representative for Cayo Northeast. Well, Elvin has left the building…but contrary to reports that he will not be coming back to Belize to face the music […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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As we told you, Penner will be back in Belize on Sunday and he is not resigning as yet. Via phone today, he also told News Five that he will be meeting with his constituents in next week. The Prime Minister points out that the Constitution makes it clear that barring resignation or crossing the […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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By midday Thursday, Eric Chang will probably no longer be the Deputy Mayor of Belize City. That’s the word coming out of City Hall today. Chang had been given an ultimatum by the Council that he needed to let them know his position by last Friday. He did speak to the Mayor, but News Five […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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Prime Minister Dean Barrow has made it abundantly clear that his initial position to give former Minister of State Elvin Penner a second chance, has now changed following disclosure of further irregularities at the immigration department. While Barrow has asked for Penner’s resignation that is not forthcoming since Penner has indicated that he will remain […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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But the prospects, according to August, are less than likely that the People’s United Party will emerge victorious if a bye-election should be called since he claims that the opposition is struggling to garner the required thirty percent of signatures necessary to trigger Penner’s recall. The three-step process, August says, will see the P.U.P. grappling […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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As we continue to dig into the immigration scandal, we unearthed the following detail. The signature of former Director of Immigration, Ruth Meighan, remains a fixture in all passports currently being issued. Meighan was transferred to the Ministry of Finance earlier this year, in February. Notwithstanding the interim appointment of senior public officer Maria Marin […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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After much public outrage and an overwhelming demand for a criminal investigation into the illegal issuance of nationality certificates and passports at the Immigration and Nationality Department, the Belize Police Department has been called in to investigate. The extent of that investigation is not known, but no less than the commissioner of police says they […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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At Tuesday’s press conference, the P.U.P. also disclosed that voters are reporting that inducements are being offered by the ruling party not to sign a recall petition. Likewise, there are threats of victimization should they support the recall of the area representative Elvin Penner. Opposition Leader, Francis Fonseca, pointed out that voters in the constituency […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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There is still debate on whether or not the Prime Minister had the legal authority to allow Elvin Penner, as a Minister of State, to sign nationality certificates and passports. The Opposition said on Tuesday that it is considering launching a legal challenge on this. But according to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, he had rocked […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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Bradley also pointed out that Penner could not be removed from Cabinet because he is a minister of state and could only attend cabinet sittings by invitation. Bradley turned to section forty-four of the constitution to back up his argument. Dickie Bradley, Attorney “There shall be cabinet of ministers for Belize which shall consist […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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The 2010 Census on Population and Housing was officially launched today in a glossy report, even though the findings were released since 2011. Still yet there is interesting information. In 2010 the population stood at approximately three hundred and twenty-four thousand five hundred, we say approximately because the head count was not all inclusive; by […]
Written on October 16, 2013 | Posted in
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There are new developments from the ongoing immigration corruption saga which makes a bye-election in Cayo Northeast a strong possibility. But here’s the biggest, first…Elvin Penner has been asked to resign as area representative of Cayo Northeast, effective immediately. That bombshell was delivered by his political boss this morning at a press briefing in Belmopan. […]
We’ll get to the recall process in a few, but first the evidence. According to the PM, it was enough for him to act immediately, and he has the unanimous agreement of his Cabinet who flanked him this morning at the press conference. So it must have been damning indeed. But we can only speculate, […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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So what of the man in the hot, dark seat? Elvin Penner earned distinction in 2008 when he became the first Mennonite to be elected to the House of Representatives. But now he is a public and political pariah – caught up in the middle of an immigration scam which may eventually result in criminal […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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If Penner does the unthinkable and refuses to resign that leaves a recall as the only process to get rid of him. For the past week, the P.U.P. has been trying to get the eighteen hundred signatures to trigger the recall. In that week, the U.D.P. has been actively campaigning to derail the recall process. […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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With the decision, the evidence and the recall out of the way, the PM also fielded other queries and suggestions. One of those is that Penner has enjoyed the protection of the U.D.P. thus far because if he falls, he might not go alone. There are persistent and credible reports that other ministers are partaking […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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Within two hours of the Prime Minister’s disclosure that there were more irregularities in the issuance of passports and the involvement of the former minister of state, the Opposition held a scheduled press conference. There are three scenarios playing out right now: a recall in Cayo Northeast, Penner’s resignation and both would result in a […]
Former P.U.P. standard bearer Orlando Habet lost to Elvin Penner by a mere seventeen votes in the last general elections. Habet has maintained all along that the elections were stolen because of the mass nationalization and subsequent registration of Guatemalan nationals and other Central Americans by Penner to vote in the 2012 elections. In the […]
Aside from a report on the investigation in the passport scandal and the purported sale of visas, the Opposition is also looking at another investigation. Senator Lisa Shoman first presented the notion of a senate investigation into the passport scandal during a special sitting of the senate two weeks ago. She says that an independent […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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Back to the P.U.P. Press Conference. The Opposition, as well as other social partners, amid the ongoing scandal, has been calling for an inquiry into the issue of impropriety at the Immigration Department. But while the business community and other groups have asked for an open probe into the matter, the moral authority of the […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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Last Friday, the Prime Minister was asking to give Penner a second chance and over the weekend, the PM was in full blown campaign mode. He was in Cayo on tour meeting Cayo Northeast constituents making it clear that the situation is bigger than Penner, and it was all about the U.D.P. and the good […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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The situation remains very fluid as to any resignation by Elvin Penner. A few minutes ago, News Five spoke to Penner by phone. Penner said the following… first, he clarified that he has not resigned and does not intend to do so until he has conferred with his people. He also told News Five that […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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The United Democratic Party is under sustained and heavy fire. One of their own has been implicated in massive corruption in the Immigration Department and public outcry has been unceasing. While the PM will never admit it, he expended tremendous political capital circling the wagons around Elvin Penner. With that said, there is little for […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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One man, however, who has a bundle of documents which were purportedly assigned for destruction, is attorney Arthur Saldivar. The documents include dozens of completed application forms, as well as nationality certificates and Saldivar was scheduled to call a press conference on Wednesday to unveil more evidence of wrongdoing at the Immigration and Nationality Department. […]
Written on October 15, 2013 | Posted in
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