BELMOPAN, Fri. Dec. 11, 2020– On Friday, December 11, the official opening of the thirteenth National Assembly took place at the footsteps of the National Assembly Building in the capital city, Belmopan.

Parliamentarians from the upper and lower Houses converged on Independence Plaza, where the 30 elected members of the House of Representatives officially took their oath of office. Missing from the proceedings was another elected area representative, David “Dido” Vega, area representative of Corozal Bay, who was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died just moments before the commencement of the ceremonies.

The inaugural sitting of the House of Representatives was preceded by that of the Senate. As previously reported, 13 senators were once again appointed. The ruling PUP administration appointed 6 senators; these senators are Eamon Courtenay SC, Christopher Coye, Dr. Isabel Bennett, Bevin Cal, Collet Montejo and Erica Jang.

For the Opposition, 3 senators were appointed. One of the three UDP senators is Michael Peyrefitte, who is now Lead Opposition Senator. He will be joined by attorney Sheena Pitts and previous UDP senator, Aldo Salazar.

Carolyn Trench-Sandiford was selected as the new President of the Senate. In an interview with local media following the meeting, she said, “My role is to ensure that the voices of all those represented in the Senate is heard and that their issues are ventilated as it relates to the bills that are in front of us and that the people of Belize listen to the merit or the positives, and the negatives, the arguments for or against, and then to ensure that it passes through the process, as it should.”

Kevin Herrera has been chosen to sit as the senator for the business community, replacing Mark Lizarraga. Also, the NGO community re-elected Osmany Salas to sit as senator and Elena Smith was also re-elected to represent the unions of the country.

In welcoming Sandiford as Senate president, Lead Government Senator, Eamon Courtney, said, “I offer to you the support and respect of this side of the House. I expect that we will be able to conduct the business of this honorable Senate with civility, equanimity, and to be faithful to the oath that we took, to do good, to do right, and above all, to do justice.”

The Lead Opposition Senator, Michael Peyrefitte, also welcomed the new president and assured her of the opposition senators’ full support likewise: “I just want to say that on this side of the aisle as well, we bear no ill will or special affection to anyone. We would do our jobs as all of us who have sworn to do, and we fully congratulate you on your ascendancy to the presidency of this most August body,” he said.

As previously reported, the new Speaker of the House of Representatives is Valerie Woods. Her appointment was made official during Friday’s ceremony. She said, “I thank the Prime Minister and his Cabinet for reposing sufficient confidence in nominating me and to the Leader of the Opposition and all honorable members for electing me.  I’m only the fourth woman of twelve speakers of the House of Representatives for Belize.”

In her address, Woods said that she is well aware of the challenges of being the House Speaker, to balance the conversation in Parliament and to maintain civility, something that has decayed to some extent and become less evident in the meetings held in the House of Representatives in the recent past.

Woods said, “I am under no illusion about the challenges of the office, but I am equally confident that we can all agree where there is disagreement, no matter how heated, how passionate, honorable members will do so with respect for each other and for the truth. There should, I hope, be no need to call on police orderlies to escort any member outside of this House, or for any member to find it necessary to put on a hard hat in the confines of the House.”

Twenty-five elected members of the People’s United Party took their oath of office, along with the five elected UDP area representatives — Patrick Faber, Hugo Patt, Tracy Taegar-Panton, Shyne Barrow, and Denise “Sista B” Barrow.

A visibly shaken Prime Minister, John Briceño, stood to give his Prime Minister’s address after the government’s speech was delivered by Governor-General Sir Colville Young.

Before proceeding with his prepared speech, Briceño had to deliver the terrible news of David “Dido” Vega’s death to his fellow parliamentarians and the country.

He then commenced his speech by saying, “We gather this morning in Belmopan on Independence Hill to participate in a ceremony steeped in tradition. Ceremonial openings of the National Assembly have been held nine times since Independence on September 21, 1981.”

In breaking away from a typical victory speech, Briceño focused on addressing his government’s response to battle the coronavirus pandemic. He said, “To wage war against this virus, we need to identify those who are positive, so that they know their status and are able to isolate. My government recognizes that when we isolate people, we cannot abandon them. Therefore, we will be providing a minimum of 14 days of food supplies and stipend to assist families in need.”

He continued, “2020 has been a living hell. Sadly, a hundred and eighty-three of us have lost their lives to COVID-19. 8,805 persons have tested positive. These include frontline workers, security forces, healthcare workers and others who risk their lives in service to our people.

“To their loved ones, we offer our deepest condolences and gratitude for their exemplary service.”

And while these numbers have increased since the delivery of Briceño’s speech, he said that his administration would, “take all measures, however drastic, to contain the spread.”
Marconi Leal is the new Deputy Speaker of the House and Henry Morris will become the new macebearer.