by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 10, 2023
In a move that has raised numerous eyebrows, the government of Belize has issued a directive which limits media coverage of the redistricting proposals that will soon be considered by Parliament.
The content of some of the current proposals for redrawing district boundaries became known to the public when pages of the redistricting proposal that had been submitted to the Elections and Boundaries Commission by the Re-Division Task Force, were leaked, revealing the addition of constituencies in the north and west of the country as well as elimination of constituencies in the east.
At the time of the leak, many questioned the fairness of the redistricting process and whether it had become politicized.
Wil Maheia, Leader of the Belize Progressive Party, had stated his discontent with the process, pleading that Elections and Boundaries be fair, not for the ministers, but for all Belizean citizens who deserve equity in the country.
Hon. John Briceño touched on this in a recent interview, stating, “It was not issued officially to any political parties. What has happened is that one member decided to hand it over to their political party, which should have stayed within them. But the thing is that we live in a vibrant democracy and you could never please 100%, so it only requires one person to say, ‘I’m not happy’, to want to take out a court or to challenge it in the court.”
On Friday, July 7, the Government of Belize issued a press release in which it stated that the re-division exercise has been completed and that proposals are to be presented before the National Assembly by the Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, before being presented to the House of Representatives. The release further stated, however, “The media and any other person are informed that publication and/or dissemination of the Report, prior to the Report being laid on the Table of the House of the Representatives, is a violation of the privileges and Standing Order of the House of the Representatives.”
There has been much objection to the move. Shortly after the restrictions were made known, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Shyne Barrow, released a statement in which he argued, “The Elections & Boundaries Commission is not a part of the Legislature. No Standing Order of the House of Representatives can prohibit the media from sharing information related to any motion, bill or paper to be laid on the table in the House.” Hon. Barrow then added, “The Elections and Boundaries Commission must at once rescind that preposterous Press Release and adhere to the Constitution of Belize which allows for freedom of expression and should enshrine Freedom of the Press to publicly scrutinize and criticize this Redistricting report.”