Photo: Oscar Sabido – Chairman, Elections and Boundaries Commission
It accuses the Briceño Administration of wanting to eliminate its court action
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 13, 2024
The Belize Peace Movement (BPM) has sounded the alarm that the Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has submitted a concerning second affidavit regarding the application of enforcement in the redistricting case originally filed in 2019. As we reported in our story titled, “House Committee hears objections to redistricting report,” in our Tuesday, June 11 edition of the paper, the BPM is awaiting a decision from High Court Justice Nadine Nabie on their application made on October 3, 2023. The parties were in court for the hearing of the application on May 22 this year, as the BPM seeks that the existing schedule of electoral divisions contained in the Representation of the People Act (revised edition 2020) be deemed unconstitutional. Well, on June 7, EBC Chairman, Senior Counsel Oscar A. Sabido submitted a two-page affidavit further to his affidavit of January 19, 2024.
In this most recent submission, Sabido informs the court that in his first affidavit in response to the application for enforcement, he stated that no date had been set for the presentation of the draft bill at the House of Representatives, but that this has since occurred (the relevant bill was presented on May 30, 2024). He then makes a point to which the BPM is emphatically objecting: Sabido states that he has seen interviews conducted by the counsel for the BPM, and writes, “I note the interview given by Counsel for the Applicants on Channel 5 Belize’s morning show Open Your Eyes on May 31st, 2024, where said Counsel, by his words, accepted that presentation of the Bill in the House of Representatives for its consideration is [in] compliance with the consent order.” He then concludes that, based on advice from the Solicitor General, the application for enforcement is “now moot, and a determination will serve no useful purpose.” The BPM interprets this to mean that the Briceno Administration “along with the agency of the Elections and Boundaries Commission fully intends to eliminate the Peace Movement’s court action, in order to conduct the next general elections without undertaking a constitutionally compliant redivisioning.” The BPM describes the Chairman’s affirmations as bizarre and audacious, and outlines what may be the outcome if they succeed in eliminating the BPM’s court action:
“1. Since the HOR cannot be compelled to pass a law, the HOR may indefinitely ‘defer’ the Representation of the People Amendment Bill 2024 which is currently before it.
“2. Since the current election list would then be without legal hindrance from the current Peace Movement’s lawsuit, the Prime Minister may freely call general elections. Without a challenge to such an election, Belize would ultimately endure another unconstitutional general elections.”
The BPM has insisted from the start that the redistricting recommendations of the EBC, contained in its report submitted to the National Assembly last year July, does not meet the constitutional requirement that the number of voters in each electoral division be nearly as equal as can be. It has called for a do-over.
The BPM, in its statement dated June 11, provides examples of instances in which Belize’s political leaders “have hijacked Belize’s democracy with impunity.” It adds, “They have, and continue to trivialize the Belize Constitution.” Citing the remarks of the Prime Minister last week, the BPM says he “had no shame to put Belizean voting rights in doubt,” when he indicated that the time is now possibly too limited for the holding of a redistricting exercise, given that it requires a lot of ground work. The PM had commented, “If we were to quickly move, probably, maybe we could still do it; but we have to wait and see.” We note that the Prime Minister is not the only one now saying we are short of time for a redistricting exercise. On Thursday, June 6, Belize Rural South area representative, Hon. Andre Perez told Amandala, “You know, if it does not happen, what can we do? Our time is very tight, and we’re looking at it. And I know redistricting is going to happen. But I’ve said it before in other interviews, I represent the third largest constituency in this entire country, and I know that we have to be fair and equitable as well. So, I understand that, and I’m not losing any sleep over it. But when it happens, I’m prepared for it.”
The BPM ends its release stating, “This is a matter of urgent public interest.”