BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 29, 2016–From 2005 to 2016, we are back to square one. We thought the problem would be solved when we removed the Musa/Fonseca PUP from government, and replaced them with Barrow and the UDP. And look where we are now.
To my PUP friends, you had, and you still have, some good people. Not all of your leaders were bad. But the government SYSTEM was flawed, terribly flawed. And so, now we have to deal with cleaning up the mess left behind.
To my UDP friends, your leader, our Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow, is just a man; a bright and eloquent man, at that; but still, like all of us, a flawed human being; and he is functioning inside a flawed, a terribly flawed, government SYSTEM. And look where we are now.
The evidence is now clear that Musa/Fonseca/Barrow are not the only ones to blame. We, the people are also to blame, for not realizing earlier that the SYSTEM is set up to give us what we have been getting – corruption.
When we got rid of the PUP culprits in 2008, and voted in the UDP saviors to government, we didn’t intend to crown a monarch; but that is exactly what we got. How else can you explain the new Prime Minister having the audacity to appoint his son, without a tender process, to being CEO of the government’s largest and most expensive statutory body, BTL? Only a monarch can do that.
As J.C. Arzu and Amandala editorials have repeatedly challenged us, we only have a parliamentary democracy in name, and when convenience suits the Maximum Leader; when it suits him, our Prime Minister assumes the authority of a monarch, which our present Constitution allows. If it were not so, there would have already been moves to impeach the P.M.
So, it is clear now that what we really need in Belize is not just a change of government. We have done that time and time again, and we find ourselves “back to square one.” PUP – UDP – PUP…. What we need is a change in our government SYSTEM. We need GOOD GOVERNANCE, and this present system is not providing that for us. The 8 demands of the BNTU are a big step in the right direction. They are not calling for PUP or BPP to save us from the UDP. They are demanding meaningful change in our SYSTEM, in order to realize GOOD GOVERNANCE from whichever party is in government.
And that is what the BNTU action on Monday is all about. And that is why I applaud, support and thank the teachers of the BNTU for what they are determined to do on behalf of all of us Belizeans. I am proud of our teachers, and today I am proud to be a Belizean. We shall not be moved! Change the system NOW!!
As intoxicating as the drink of power is, our present monarch, P.M. Barrow, would be wise to consider eating some “humble pie” and accede to the demands of the BNTU; but if he remains intransigent, then, to use his words, “all bets are off.” And it could possibly end in a change of government before its 5-year term is up.