A PUP columnist took us to task last week for not formulating and presenting a strong opinion on the dual citizenship clause of a constitutional amendment proposed by the UDP government. It seems that many Belizeans have strong opinions on the dual citizenship amendment clause, which would allow a Belizean with dual citizenship to sit in the House of Representatives.
There are times we are not sure how relevant our opinion is, especially with regards to these convoluted, confusing legal pyrotechnics called constitutional amendments. Once the government proposes, then the constitutional responsibility accrues to Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition to take the critical arguments of dissent to the people of Belize.
There was a Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting held last Wednesday in Belize City, at which three PUP lawyers appeared to lead the charge against the amendments. (It was not clear to us whether one of these three, Hon. Francis Fonseca, Freetown area representative, was also a member of the aforementioned House Committee, but it doesn’t matter. He spoke as a member of the PUP Opposition, and he opposed.)
There are two things we can say on the dual citizenship matter. The first is that this newspaper does not have a history of “playing lawyer.” And, as we have seen with the previous proposed constitutional amendments, these new constitutional amendments will end up in higher and higher courts as the expensive plaything of the trained lawyers.
The second thing we would say is this. There is a larger, much more important debate which is being totally ignored by the professional politicians and those members of the partisan media who do the bidding of the politicians for pay. The issue is that of Belizeans in the Diaspora – a complicated, critical issue in 2009.
Just as, for argument’s sake, there are two kinds of Belizeans in Belize – those who are educated and those who are not-so-educated, there are two kinds of Belizeans in the Diaspora, mainly and specifically the United States of America. Educated Belizeans in the Diaspora have done almost nothing to inform and mobilize their not-so-educated brethren and sistren. As a result, not-so-educated Belizeans in America are so scattered, both physically and intellectually, that they are a non-force, a non-factor in the Belizean discussion.
When the nationalist era of party politics began in British Honduras in 1950, the not-so-educated (we can also call them the working class) featured prominently in the anti-colonial, anti-British PUP. Educated British Hondurans, in the main, were opposed to the PUP, and supported the parties which were opposed to the PUP – first the National Party, then the National Independence Party, and finally the United Democratic Party.
Many educated Belizeans migrated to the United States during the PUP heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. In New York City, they formed the British Honduran Freedom Committee, which was a financial mainstay of the NIP in the 1960s. Today, the Freedom Committee is no more; the UDP, successor to the NIP, is the elected government of Belize; and the Belizeans in the Diaspora can no longer be stereotyped as anti-PUP. Today, there are definitely all kinds of Belizeans in the United States. They are, to repeat, disorganized, and though they contribute substantially to Belize in cash and in kind, they have no say and no real rights in Belize.
The dual citizenship amendment was not a real effort to recognize the Belizean Diaspora, even though high profile Diaspora members like Compton Fairweather were cited in the House as a reason for the amendment. The feeling amongst roots Belizeans is that the dual citizenship amendment is specifically designed to facilitate things for the Chinese (Taiwanese) and Mennonite immigrant communities, immigrant communities which have penetrated Belizean electoral politics in the last few years.
At this newspaper, we have been publicizing the views of Dr. Jerome Straughan, who is, to our mind, the established, nonpareil expert on the Belizean Diaspora, but who has not been given any kind of official recognition by the political and academic powerhouses in Belize. The situation where Dr. Straughan is concerned is a total travesty in our opinion.
The academic professionals and institutions in Belize are dominated by the churches, who are some of the most non-nationalistic organizations in Belize. What the excuse of the politicians is, we can’t say. It must be that neither the UDP nor the PUP is sure that they have any political benefit to derive from addressing the concerns and needs of the Belizean Diaspora. Remember now, in the 1960s, that was not the case. The NIP was supported by the Diaspora. In 2009, however, that Diaspora has not only grown, it has changed in composition. The UDP is not sure of the Diaspora, but neither is the PUP. At Amandala, we are, however, sure of the Diaspora. They are Belizeans, and we love them as such.
All power to the people.