Photo: Outgoing BNTU President Elena Smith takes questions on incoming president following emergency Council meeting
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 11, 2023
In a dramatic turn of events, the Council of Management of the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU) at an emergency meeting held on Wednesday, May 10, in Belmopan, chose to rally behind president-elect Ruth Shoman. As we have detailed in a previous story titled, “Incoming BNTU president under internal fire,” less than a week after being elected on April 13, Shoman found herself at the center of a public firestorm due to unsavoury details that some union members uncovered from her past. It had to do with theft from her then employer on San Pedro when she says she was 19 years old. However, Shoman has since publicly explained on a talk show that what happened back then was all linked to her being the victim of gender-based violence.
Shoman would go on to submit to outgoing president Elena Smith a letter of withdrawal from her position as president-elect of Belize’s most powerful union on Monday, May 8. She told Smith in that letter that since her victory, “certain Council members have been adamant in ensuring that they discredit me, and your apparent silence enabled it to escalate, which has brought great pain and suffering to my family, especially my children.” Shoman then affirmed that though serving the Union is important to her, “it is not as important as ensuring the well-being of my family.” An emergency meeting of the Council of Management was then scheduled, but prior to the gathering of the estimated 20 Council members, Shoman wrote Smith again to indicate that she was rescinding her withdrawal.
Sources tell Amandala that the Shoman matter was discussed at length, and though there was no vote, the members decided to back her. When they emerged from the meeting, Smith told the media, “as you all know, she tendered her resignation, and this morning she rescinded that resignation. So, she remains our president-elect and come July 3rd, she’s going to be in office as our new BNTU president for the next two years.” Pressed on Shoman’s past and a stipulation in the BNTU’s Constitution which says, “After due process, the Union by decision of Council may cancel the membership of persons who…are convicted of criminal offence or grave professional misconduct,” Smith reaffirmed, “We’ve met, and we’ve said that she is going to be the president. The membership elected her and so she’s our president. We move forward with that.” We do note that Shoman was not tried or convicted for any criminal offence. As to the Union moving forward in unity, Smith stated, “At the end of the day we are one BNTU. And as every other organization, there are challenges, and we have to face them when they come. And so, that is what we did today. We faced those challenges. We looked at how we go forward. And that is what we’ll be doing. We’ll be going forward with our president and our Council in support of her.”
Smith said Shoman will chart the way forward along with the Council as it relates to what they want to do during the next two years. She highlighted, though, that “the president doesn’t make decisions; it’s the Council who makes decisions, and so that will continue”. Smith further remarked, “We expect that the Union will continue to be strong as we all are, and, again, we may be going through a rough patch right now, but we will continue to be who we are: the proud, the strong, the mighty BNTU.”
As to her reaction to Shoman’s accusation that she, Smith, remained silent while other Council members discredited her (Shoman), allowing the issue to escalate, Smith said she was disappointed, but they have to respect people’s opinion and move on.
Our reports are that Shoman was not present at Wednesday’s meeting. The Union’s membership has since been notified about the meeting’s outcome.