BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 2, 2021– Today, the Belize Network of NGOs (BNN) sounded the alarm on the Briceño administration’s intention to push through the Belize Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill, 2021, this Friday during the upcoming sitting of the House of Representatives that is scheduled to take place on that day.
The proposed constitutional amendment has been rejected by a number of groups representing key segments of the community, including the four social partner Senators sitting in the upper house of parliament.
A number of observers believe that the real purpose of this constitutional amendment is to strip four constitutional bodies, namely the Belize Advisory Council, the Election and Boundaries Commission, the Public Services Commission, and the Security Services Commission, of their political independence and autonomy and to make it possible for the appointed members of those bodies to be removed whenever a national assembly is dissolved.
A commentary drafted by the Public Service Union (PSU) and other social partners says, “It can be concluded that the motivation for the proposed Tenth Amendment is the conviction of the present PUP administration that it is the tradition that members of the constitutional bodies vacate office on the election of a new political party to Government, and the refusal of the current members of these bodies to so vacate their posts.”
Shortly after the landslide victory of this PUP administration in November of 2020, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño made his position clear that those appointed to these important state bodies by the last administration should have resigned immediately after their party’s defeat.
While being interviewed by local media, he said, “They should have resigned from the twelfth of November. They haven’t as yet. They need to understand that there is a new government and as a new government, it has been the practice from Independence that when a new government comes in, everybody resigns, and so I am very disappointed that they have not resigned as yet, and I hope that can be addressed very soon.”
In demanding the resignation of Estevan Perera as chairman of the Election and Boundaries Commission, the PM said, “When the former Prime Minister appointed Steve Perera, two or three months before general elections, he knew that an election was going to come; he didn’t appoint Steve Perera for three months, or six months, he appointed Steve Perera for five years. And now, when you appoint the Elections and Boundaries Commission, check this out, check this out, you appoint two members from the Opposition, we appoint two, and then you have Steve Perera, so you control the Elections and Boundaries Commission. You think we stupid?”
The BNN is now asking the government to apply the brakes to the passage of this new amendment, possibly already scheduled for second reading during tomorrow’s House sitting.
“Every effort needs to be made to ensure that the four affected bodies will be free from political interference,” the release from the BNN states.
It adds, “We believe that the current ‘piecemeal’ approach is a departure from the PUP Administration’s tabled Good Governance agenda.”
The social partner Senators and the BNN have called instead for a broad-based Constitutional Assembly to be formed. This body would be tasked with drafting a modern constitution over a two-year period.
In a recent Cabinet brief, GOB announced that a Constitutional Reform Commission would be formed to undertake a “comprehensive review of the Constitution.”
While the BNN welcomes this advancement, it states, “we look forward to the Belize Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill’s removal from the agenda for this Friday’s House of Representatives meeting.”