BELMOPAN, Mon. Feb. 21, 2022– The Government of Belize is moving forward with an electoral redistricting exercise, according to a recent press release from the Elections and Boundaries Commission. Earlier this month, we reported that the redistricting case brought by the Belize Peace Movement (BPM) to address the disproportionate number of voters across various constituencies was set to go to the Supreme Court on February 24, despite the government’s motion to strike out the proceedings on the grounds that it had already begun preparing for the exercise. The Commission’s press release, however, has indicated that the government has already provided funding for the exercise, and as a result, a task force has been appointed to set the groundwork. That task force had its inaugural meeting today, February 21, ahead of the upcoming court date. In response to this revelation, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) issued its own press release, expressing support for the BPM in its efforts to take the matter to court and urging the Government of Belize (GoB) to comply and thus to “implement the fair representation principles of the Belize Constitution.”
“The principle of fair representation has been eroding since 1984 and now, this issue is front and centre of our democracy, and the GoB has an obligation to address this issue. The NTUCB requests that the GoB take action to implement this policy and changes that are needed for the proper representation for all Belizeans. This issue has been ongoing for some time now, and it seems that the GoB is not interested in addressing this major problem of the erosion of our democracy. The NTUCB calls on the GoB to address this issue now and to support the efforts of the BPM in finding an amicable solution to this issue,” said the NTUCB release.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission has also listed the names of the members of its five-person task force: Paula Hender, Crown Counsel, Attorney General’s Ministry; Shirley Humes, Principal Planner, Ministry of Natural Resources, Petroleum and Mining; Alfred Cal, Senior Lands Officer, Ministry of Natural Resources, Petroleum and Mining; and Martin Aldana, Statistical Analyst, private sector; along with Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer, Elections and Boundaries Department, who will be acting as chairperson.
“Upon receipt of recommendations from the task force, the Commission, in accordance with Section 90 of the Belize Constitution, will make proposals to the National Assembly for boundary redistricting,” stated the release. According to the Commission, the re-districting exercise has been given high priority and is expected to conclude in 2023. The press release made no mention of the upcoming court date. We will further cover these new developments in Friday’s issue.