The 2025 general elections are over. A landslide PUP government has been returned to office with another 26-5 majority in the House. And once again the new government faces the call from an increasing number of citizen groups for a redistricting of the electoral divisions in the country. There are many great plans and dreams attached to Plan Belize 2.0, but a word of caution to those in the euphoric waters of the Blue Tsunami: “Every day carry bucket to the well …” At some point Belizean voters will begin listening more keenly to the persistent voices on the redistricting crusade. In reflecting on the current situation going forward, we refer first to a very helpful Amandala article titled, “Chief Justice denies redistricting injunction,” dated Thursday, October 29, 2020. It is said that those who don’t know their history are likely to repeat it.
When Paul Morgan, Bobby Lopez, Hubert Enriquez and the Belize Peace Movement (BPM) made the call for redistricting back in December of 2019 to a then UDP government, there was some reluctance, and then a UDP leadership convention in February of 2020, and then some court delays in agreement for an Ashcroft-sponsored expert witness to make recommendations. Meanwhile, the then Opposition PUP entered the fray on the side of the UDP government, and thus both argued against the injunction to delay the elections “in light of the time and resources spent on campaigning over the past year.”
Well, the BPM tried, unsuccessfully, to stop the 2020 elections, and the UDP was replaced by the PUP by a 26-5 majority in the November 11 general elections that year. The efforts of the BPM seemed in vain; but then, there was a promise, or perhaps more a suggestion, that the new government would place redistricting high on its priority list. PUP Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay said in a press briefing after the Supreme Court ruling, that “redistricting is a necessary process” and that they needed “to move swiftly after the elections to do the necessary re-divisioning.”
My, how time flies. That was in 2020. It is instructive to reflect on the ruling of then Acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana on the BPM’s application for an injunction to stop the November 11, 2020, general election after the date had been announced on the advice of then prime minister Dean Barrow:
“Upon the Governor General’s Office’s October 6 announcement that general elections had been set for November 11, the BPM made good on their intentions and immediately began to rally for a delay of the general elections, filing an application on Tuesday, October 13, for an interim injunction at the Belize Supreme Court.” stated the Amandala, on October 31, 2020.
Well, we know what became of that attempted injunction. In a Supreme Court ruling delivered on October 28, 2020, in favor of proceeding with the elections, Acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana said she was “persuaded by the abundance of case law provided, which includes Privy Council and Caribbean Court of Justice decisions, that this court does not have inherent jurisdiction to hear this matter, as the election process has already begun.”
We have all gone one full five-year election cycle since then. Granted, the economy of Belize was in dire straits when the PUP took office in November 2020. And with such an overwhelming majority mandate, they can hardly be faulted for focusing all their energy and resources on delivering the “goods and services” aspect of their Plan Belize manifesto in order to “rescue” the Belize economy, which was still reeling from the effects of Covid-19 and the global economic downturn it brought, conditions which were exacerbated by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. The report card of the John Briceño-led PUP government of 2020-2025 has been graded by the Belizean people at the polls last Wednesday, and they were found to have passed with flying colors. Congratulations are in order for a job well done. By no means were they perfect; but Belizeans, whose votes counted on election day, have told the PUP government to “stay pan track” with their Plan Belize 2.0, while they ensured the Opposition retained five seats in the House.
But what happened again in 2025 with the efforts of some sincere and stalwart Belizeans to correct the blatant ways in which our electoral process is at variance with our Constitution, should not go unnoticed or unappreciated. The High Court in 2025 ruled just as the Supreme Court did in 2020; and the government of the day, first UDP, and now PUP, had all the balls in their court. The government should therefore be mindful of the sacrifice and the sincerity of these patriotic Belizeans, and the worthiness of the cause that they have put themselves on the line for, in the interest of all Belizeans, and consider the slowly growing tide of public opinion in support of, and sympathy for those who have made this sacrifice. Punitive damages and costs borne by these patriots could sooner or later come back to haunt you honorable folks.
What played out in 2025 clearly demonstrated the power of government, and the futility of the efforts of those seeking change through the courts in certain situations. Not until the Prime Minister revealed the date for general elections, could the BPM and/or the Jerry Enriquez-led trio legally file for an injunction to stop the elections from being held on that date without a redistricting exercise having been done. But, having announced the date, the PM forthwith got the Governor General to affix her signature, making the election date in effect law, and irreversible by the court, as per the 2020 ruling by Acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana. So, in 2025, when the BPM and Enriquez et. al. filed for their injunction, purportedly to defend and preserve the constitutional rights of all Belizeans, the court, from the High Court to the Appeals Court and even the CCJ, when they attempted to go further, acknowledged their efforts and arguments, but nevertheless turned down their request in 2025, as had been done in 2020.
Without detailing all the legal arguments, the bottom line, as reported in the Amandala article, “Redistricting Claimants’ hopes dashed …”, dated Thursday, March 6, 2025, is that after Enriquez’s efforts were frustrated at the High Court and the Appeals Court, and he turned to the CCJ, “Unfortunately for Enriquez, the CCJ found that the application for special leave to appeal was without merit, and it was denied without the need for a hearing.”
As the situation in 2025 played out under a PUP government, it has seemed that neither major political party, UDP or PUP, was very interested in pursuing the redistricting exercise, neither as government or as opposition. It is left to be seen if the still very popular, newly elected PUP government will feel obliged to spend some effort in seeing through the long overdue redistricting exercise. PM Briceño has warned that “the international climate is more volatile, more complex and more challenging for small, open economies like ours,” and it is left to be seen how high on his priority list redistricting falls. Meanwhile, the redistricting agitators are disappointed but not deterred, and this issue, should the rejuvenated Opposition UDP latch on to it as a failing of past governments, could well become a factor in future elections. Redistricting, in whatever form, must be addressed, unless “hubris” has indeed gotten the better of our leaders.
Especially in a country with such a large immigrant population that needs to be regularized and accounted for, Belizeans may soon begin to take this issue more seriously. If it is to happen in this administration, then the ball needs to start rolling now. As a determined Jerry Enriquez is quoted as saying, “The process has started; it has not ended.” Will this PUP administration conquer the redistricting challenge?