BELIZE CITY, Tues. June 23, 2020– Corporal Eldon Arzu had been at the helm of the Belize Police Association for six consecutive terms until last week when new elections were held and he and his team, which campaigned under the theme, “Negative propaganda is not the way, choose the A-Team to stand up for your welfare,” were soundly defeated by Sergeant Jane Usher and her team.
Before the Belize Police Association gets underway with taking care of the welfare of its members, however, a legal hurdle has been placed in their way.
Corporal Eldon Arzu is not going quietly into the sunset of defeat. Arzu filed for a judicial review, challenging the legality of the elections in which he also participated.
During a recently held media briefing, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams was asked to comment on a report that the former president of the Police Association has filed an injunction to prevent the newly elected executive of the Police Association from taking office.
Williams confirmed that such an injunction had indeed been filed by stating, “this morning I was served with the copy of judicial review application from Mr. Arzu.”
“Yes, that is just the way he is. He even wants to set aside the will of the majority of the officers who voted in that election, including himself, because he voted too,” Williams continued.
Williams said, “we will defend the application, and his application will have no basis in law.”
“Anybody can challenge whatever in court, but the question is what the outcome will be, and so we will be moving forward with what the lower ranks of the department have determined; they overwhelmingly elected the slate with Sergeant Hyde and Jane Usher, over that of Mr. Arzu’s slate,” Williams explained.
“That is the will of the officers and we must respect the will of the officers. At the end of the day, the court will rule that the officers were duly and rightly elected,” said Williams.
“You will recall that just one day before the elections, Mr. Arzu, through his attorney, put out a statement basically endorsing the elections. So why would it be now after the elections he lost, that he would want to challenge the process? If he was victorious, I am sure he would not challenge the process. So at the end of the day, we will see what the court has to say,” Commissioner Williams declared. .
Williams was asked to comment on an aspect of the lawsuit which states that at least six months ago, Arzu and his team were supposed to have been endorsed.
“Well, I guess he wanted to be appointed to serve another term the easy way, without facing the people,” Williams offered.
“…He just wanted to endorse his side and to hell with the other side,” Williams continued, “It’s not like that, we live in a democracy…The rank and file came out and they elected who they want to represent them, and we should respect that,” Commissioner Williams said.