Photo: Henry Usher, Chairman, People’s United Party and Area Representative for Fort George
Axe Mesop, Queen’s Square, Collet, Fort George, Port?
BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 28, 2023
The recommendations for redistricting made by the Elections and Boundaries Commission are to be presented to Parliament on or before Monday, July 17. Three weeks before that deadline, word started going around about specific proposals that have been made for redistricting, and politicians from both sides of the political divide appear agitated about the prospects.
While it should be a clinical, technical exercise, with the reality on the ground and the law dictating how existing divisions are spliced or joined and others created to comply with the constitutional mandate that divisions have as equal a number of voters as possible, perhaps expectedly, there are accusations that politicians’ self-serving interest may be infecting the process.
The UDP Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, and the PUP area representative for Port Loyola, Hon. Gilroy Usher, have both singled out PUP Chairman, Henry Usher as one of the representatives who should see his division disappear, given the long-held belief that Fort George (the constituency he represents) historically has had the lowest number of voters. However, Usher today pointed to the latest voter statistics dated May 2023, which show that Barrow’s Mesop is actually the smallest division. Barrow on Tuesday stated that experts point to the elimination of Fort George, due to its lowest voter population size, and that it should be subsumed by Caribbean Shores. Referring to Barrow’s line of reasoning, and in light of the fact that it is Barrow’s constituency which possibly has the fewest voters, Usher thus asked the question, “is he suggesting that his division should be eliminated?” The voter statistics for April 2023 showed that Fort George had 2,250 voters while Mesopotamia had 2,244. In the May 2023 statistics, the Fort George figure remains the same while Mesopotamia’s fell by 2 voters.
Barrow, who is now holding regular press conferences on Tuesdays, this week said an original redistricting proposal was “littered with gerrymandering, littered with the worst types of political interference you could imagine.” He said it was incumbent on him to highlight that the Redistricting Task Force is led by “the Deputy Secretary General of the PUP, Collet Montejo — and this is supposed to be a non-political undertaking, at least by the redistricting Task Force.” “We want technical experts that have no partisan agendas,” he went on to say. According to Barrow, an initial proposal was to eliminate the Collet and Queen’s Square divisions, but they pushed back on that.
PUP Chairman Usher responded that the redistricting exercise is being overseen by the independent Elections and Boundaries Commission, which comprises two representatives each from both major political parties and a chairman in the person of Senior Counsel Oscar Sabido. He pointed out that the Commission appointed a Redistricting Task Force to make recommendations on the proper apportionment of electoral division boundaries based on population and geographic studies, among other factors. Usher further commented, “whatever proposals are being discussed right now, that’s just speculation because as far as I know, the Task Force has just completed its work. I am not sure if they have even made their proposals to the Commission and certainly, the Commission has not made public those proposals.”
Usher pushed back on the insinuation that there is an attempt to leave a carve-out to “save” him politically by keeping his constituency intact. He called it simply playing politics, and reaffirmed that the discussions are premature and so no real assessment can be made at this time. He chastised Barrow for the suggestion of gerrymandering, saying that “by suggesting that, the Leader of the Opposition is really undermining the work of these public officers who have done their job.” Chairman Usher also responded to a press release from Port Loyola’s Gilroy Usher who said that if two of the 13 divisions in the Belize District ought to be eliminated, it should not be Port Loyola, which is the 5th largest of the 13 divisions. Port Loyola’s Usher asserted, “In fairness the elimination [of] two divisions in the Belize District should begin with the smallest of the eight smallest divisions in the area, specifically Fort George, Mesopotamia, Queen’s Square, Albert, Collet, Freetown, Pickstock, and Caribbean Shores which all have way below the minimum of 4,600 voters each, with range[s] from 4,417 voters to as little as 2,243 voters.” In reference to that statement, Usher commented, “I think my colleague, the Honorable Gilroy Usher was responding to a news item placed on one of the social media outlets … I don’t think that it was based on any fact. It certainly was not based on any proposal that was put out there or any type of discussion that was had.”
Asked pointedly whether he is prepared to lose his division, Hon. Henry Usher skirted the question, saying that the area will still be there, as it will not be wiped off the map. Pressed on the possibility of the division being merged with another, he said “this has happened before … The Fort George division used to be areas 8 and 9. Polling Area 7 was included in the last redistricting exercise. So, I expect there will be some additions to the Fort George area as there will be mergers between many of the city constituencies.” He added, “Remember, it’s not only the size of the constituency — meaning the voting population. What the case law has said is that you look at effective representation. You look at the ability of each and every voter in this country to be effectively represented in the House.”
Barrow, for his part, has indicated willingness to accept the elimination of Queen’s Square and opined, “The proposal should be to merge – to take Freetown, Caribbean Shores and Fort George and take that three and make two … Some of Caribbean Shores would go to Freetown and all of Fort George would go to Caribbean Shores. Port Loyola, not Collet, should be broken up and given to Albert and Collet, and then Queen’s Square should go into Mesopotamia. That is what experts have advised that makes sense. And Belize Rural South needs to be broken up. Those are two constituencies according to the constitutional mean which is about 4,600 to 5,500 because there is a room of error there.” Barrow also made the observation that those carrying out the redistricting exercise appear to want to leave Belize Rural South but take away Caye Caulker and St. George’s Caye to add to Fort George.
Asked how the UDP candidate in Port Loyola, Philip Willoughby would respond to the recommendation for the elimination of that division, Barrow said, “Mr. Willoughby — he and I share a close relationship, and so we have been talking about the matter. And, you know, we are flexible in the UDP as to finding another opportunity for Mr. Willoughby.”
While it is generally accepted that there needs to be a decrease of seats for the Belize District, it is also accepted that there will be increases in some of the districts. Both Hon. Henry Usher and Hon. Barrow agree that Belmopan, which has grown to 9,544 voters, needs to be split into two. Additional seats are also expected for Cayo proper due to increases in population in San Ignacio and Santa Elena, and in Stann Creek due to Stann Creek West currently having the largest voter population — 10,334 voters.
According to Henry Usher, once the Commission has received the recommendations from the Task Force, it will make its own deliberations then submit its recommendations to the National Assembly. If the number of seats is increased, there will also be a debate in the National Assembly, after which a bill would be passed. The redistricting process started in March of 2022, and once recommendations are passed in the National Assembly, changes would be put in place for the next general elections expected in 2025.
Barrow says they will mount a legal challenge if necessary.