Mon. Jan. 24, 2022
There are some burning national issues for the just over one-year-old John Briceno-led PUP government administration to deal with, but perhaps fortunate for government, and unfortunate for the Belizean people, the Opposition party is somewhat unstable right now, severely distracted by the prospect of a possible change of leadership because of the recent domestic troubles of Opposition/UDP leader, Hon. Patrick Faber, that initially led to a police warrant for his arrest. Latest reports are that the female complainant has rescinded her statement, and so the charges have reportedly been dismissed; but the political damage has already been done, this being not the first or the second domestic violence incident that Faber has been involved in over the past decade. Faber has reportedly announced a press conference for Monday, but the UDP Chairman, Senator Michael Peyrefitte, has publicly stated his position that Faber needs to step down as Leader of the Opposition and of the UDP.
It is not as if our country does not have many important issues affecting the lives of citizens to deal with. There are a host of crucial matters that should demand the attention and focus of the party in Opposition, from the waterfront situation, to crime and violence, health issues, the immigration problem, schools and border re-opening concerns, etc. Instead, citizens are to be treated to pleas for mercy, and “never again” promises from the would-be leader of the country in efforts to hold on to his posts as leader of the Opposition and the UDP.
Meanwhile, a ticking time bomb is the unresolved stevedore issue at the Port of Belize, where there was talk late last week that government was considering sending in BDF personnel to replace striking waterfront workers in unloading cargo from a ship. There are a lot of guns in the streets of Belize, and many citizens experiencing hard times; it is not the kind of climate in which any government would want to aggravate a situation where a significant group of workers feel their backs may be against a wall, and may be willing to risk it all in defending what they perceive as their right under the labor laws of Belize; and their plight could easily ignite other sympathetic forces in the community, and one thing could lead to another. Crime and violence continue to be a major problem, with our New Year murder rate already approaching record levels, and things could quickly deteriorate to another level.
The situation with the cañeros up north may seem to have been resolved for now, but there are still a few wrinkles to be ironed out between BSI/ASR and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association. And it may not be long before the pounding of an unprecedented number of sugar- loaded trucks begins taking its toll on the just-being-improved surface of the Philip Goldson Highway, as well as the George Price Highway and the Hummingbird Highway on the way to the Big Creek port, along with the inevitable increase in road accidents. The BSI/ASR savings in transportation costs will not only come out of the pockets of our stevedore workers, but the taxpaying Belizean citizens overall will foot the bill for the increased damage endured by our highway surfaces from such intense heavy-load traffic. Moreover, our caneros will soon find out how long their truck tires last on this much longer journey; and then there will be more “talks” with BSI/ASR.
The new annual budget is around the corner in March, and with the recent glowing reports by the IMF on government’s fiscal performance over the past year, public service workers will be looking forward to some relief from their lost wages due to the 10% salary cut endured last year. Tourism is slowly coming back, and agriculture is on the move, but it is left to be seen how much government is willing to release to public officers at this time.
Then there is the question being posed to P.M. Briceno by Senator Peyrefitte on the $15 million approved by the National Assembly towards payment of consultancy fees in the closing of the Super Bond and implementation of the Blue Bonds. The senator wants more details on the cash disbursement, the timing thereof, implying that more transparency is needed, while the P.M. appears to be stalling, saying he has already provided all the details. The Financial Secretary has since issued a release in which he certified that “the BZD$15 million supplementary Budget provision … will NOT be allocated nor de-reserved by the Ministry of Finance, since it is no longer required,” but Peyrefitte says he is determined to pursue the matter in court; and this is the sort of thing that an Opposition is to expend its energies on, in being a watch-dog for the people’s affairs.
And there is also the redistricting case that government is again showing little enthusiasm towards; and the Opposition is needed to impress the urgency of this exercise, especially in light of the proposed amnesty to upwards of 40,000 undocumented immigrants, another matter that requires discussion and debate. And what about the voting rights of our diaspora Belizeans?
There are enough heavy matters to consume the attention and focus of an earnest Opposition party, to press the current office holders in government to give maximum service and attention to the needs and concerns of the Belizean people. The Briceno-led government has some feathers in its cap; for example, he has recently indicated that the proposed legislation drafted by the previous Auditor General has been passed to the current Attorney General for review, and also that the office of Ombudsman would soon be advertised. But it is the consistent pressure from an engaged Opposition that will ensure that the people get the best performance from government.
How this latest fiasco plays out is a UDP party affair, but it also is of concern to all Belizeans because the Leader of the Opposition holds an important constitutional post. Mr. Faber may wish to brush the matter aside as a trivial and private incident that got blown out of proportion. But his erstwhile party leader and prime minister would be the first to advise him that the “optics” are important. For his part, the UDP Chairman and Senator, Hon. Michael Peyrefitte has seen enough and thrown down the gauntlet.
In a statement last week on 7News, Peyrefitte said: “I can’t make the party leader resign, I can’t make him go. He has to resign of his own volition, and if he doesn’t resign, then I will encourage the national convention to make a move to remove him. And if the U.D.P. decides that the honorable Patrick Faber is to be their leader and that’s the leader they’re sticking with, given all these circumstances, then the U.D.P. is not an organization that I think I want to be a part of…”
Meanwhile, Faber is giving no indication of voluntarily stepping down. Responding to a question from a reporter he said simply, “You know that I am a fighter, and you know that I will keep going.”
Come Monday, there will likely be more political theatre, with curious eyes watching to see if Patrick is some sort of political Houdini, or if it turns out to be a case of the proverbial bucket to the well. Whichever, the quicker it is over, the better for the Belizean people so that the Opposition party can get back to performing its important constitutional duties in our governance process.
Solidarity for our stevedores!