With the date for General Elections 2008 set for February 7, the nation’s capital, Belmopan, has been abuzz this week with late applicants trying to get their papers in order so that they can exercise the sacred franchise on our Super Thursday. Belmopan citizens are quite acquainted with the late flurry of activity. But never before has there been such a rush of applicants to become brand new Belizeans as the group that poured down on the capital this week.
“Alerted” by old Belizeans of the massive number of people crowding the Immigration Department on Tuesday, January 8, to get their nationality “papers” in order, Belmopan’s Plus TV owner, Mr. Louis Wade, and a staff member hurried over to “get the facts.” While there interviewing prospective citizens and recording the activities on videotape, they learned of another large crowd that was being processed at the George Price Center.
Louis Wade and his crew rushed over to the George Price Center to “get the facts” there, to report to the nation. But Mr. Winston Smiling was in no mood to entertain Mr. Wade and his crew. Amandala was told, in short, that Louis Wade and his crew were told to pack up and leave.
Mr. Winston Smiling says there is a simple explanation for what happened, why he had to slow down Mr. Wade. Mr. Wade was pushy, he told us, and disrespectful of the process. He (Wade) refused to identify the media he represented, and he bullied his way through the persons who were waiting there to be sworn in as new citizens of Belize…and their families and friends that had come along to share the historic moment.
Mr. Smiling told us that in his capacity of Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Belize, it is his duty to see that all of the citizens being sworn in have been duly processed (that no undesirables or other unsavory persons (with police records) are slipping in, and that their documents are properly prepared. We welcome the media to be there to see the new citizens as they take the oath of allegiance, he told us.
As to the huge numbers being sworn in on Tuesday, Mr. Smiling admitted the group was indeed large. He said that many of the new citizens had been processed previously but had not been able to find the $300 fee to cover the cost of their papers. He said that in the present election climate, some people were fearful that they might be victimized if the government changed, and that is why the big rush.
As to the eligibility of the new Belizeans to participate in the 2008 General Elections, Mr. Smiling said he was not sure if all of them will have completed the necessary processes in time to vote.
In response to the accusation that he was rude to Mr. Smiling, Mr. Wade says that is not true…that he “would never be rude to the gentleman.” He says that Mr. Smiling did not identify himself when he accosted him (Wade) in the Center, and people from the Immigration Department who were in the building told him that Mr. Smiling did not work with them. He says that it was not until after he and his crew were put out of the Center that Mr. Smiling asked him to identify himself.
The great majority of citizens that were sworn in on Tuesday came from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras – in that order. People from China, the USA, Italy, Nicaragua, Jamaica, India, Taiwan, Nigeria, Guyana, Costa Rica, Swaziland, the Philippines, Cuba, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Panama, Lebanon, Great Britain, and Pakistan also took the pledge for The Jewel in Belmopan on Tuesday last.
Reliable information we have indicates that over a thousand new citizens were processed by Wednesday, and the program was continuing into Thursday, January 10. By far the largest number of new citizens were processed on Tuesday, almost 800. Of those processed on Tuesday, about 144 registered in the Belize District, BMP (45), Benque Viejo (23), Cayo (209), Corozal (40), Orange Walk (143), San Pedro (26), Stann Creek (121), and 22 in Toledo. NOTE: all figures are approximate.
The big question on the minds of most Belizeans today is how will these new Belizeans impact on the upcoming general elections. Skeptics naturally are leaning toward the idea that the incumbents are manipulating the process to increase their chances next month.
We spoke with the Honorable Leader of the Opposition, Dean Barrow, to get his feel on the situation out in Belmopan this week. Honorable Barrow said that the last minute rush was primarily by PUP standard bearers…he was aware that most of the people being processed had been in Belize the necessary period, but he was concerned that even though Immigration Officials were working “mightily” to maintain the sanctity of the process, severe pressure was coming at them to waive some of the safeguards for those that did not qualify.
“I believe in immigration as long as the safeguards are in place…definitely I am in favor of regularizing people who have been here a while and are contributing positively to the country,” he told us.
P.S. We tried unsuccessfully all day to contact the Director of Immigration in his office in Belmopan, even during lunch, but his telephone was always busy. Another telephone in the office was set on fax machine. Late this evening Mr. Winston Smiling sent us information that at 3:30 this evening a total of 708 persons had been processed by the Immigration Department this week.