BELMOPAN, Wed. Jan. 13, 2021– The first business meeting of the Senate was held on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. One of the first orders of business was the moving of the Good Governance Motion 2021, which had been passed earlier in the House of Representatives and was introduced on Wednesday in the Senate by the leader of government business, Senator Eamon Courtenay.

The debate surrounding the motion occupied the first two hours of the Senate meeting, and while Opposition senators called the motion hollow and lacking in substance, the PUP senators maintained that the motion represents the reform agenda of their party, which was set out in their manifesto, Plan Belize.

“Madam President, as I saw the motion, the first question that came to my mind is, why? Why is this even necessary? We know what the PUP campaigned on, we know what the PUP won its victory on, we know what they said they would do, so what the Belizean public wants them to do is to do, what they said they would do.” Lead Opposition Senator Michael Peyrefitte remarked.

Like his counterparts in the House of Representatives, Peyrefitte classified the Good Governance Motion as nothing more than a regurgitation of the campaign promises of the PUP. Additionally, in his presentation, he called into question the constitutionality of the appointment of the new Comptroller of Customs, Estelle Leslie, and in turn, the genuineness of the PUP’s good governance motion.

He asserted that the Government of Belize added the position of Comptroller of Customs to section 107 of the Constitution in order to have control of the appointment. He then noted, however, that the Public Service Commission was never consulted, as is mandated by the Constitution.

“The Constitution says that the Prime Minister cannot advise the Governor General, to create or to put the Comptroller of Customs under 107 until the Prime Minister has consulted with the Public Service Commission. I have been in contact with the Public Service Commission, Madam President, and they have informed me that they have not been so consulted.” Senator Pereyfitte said.

He added, “So how can you come to this august body and say that you ‘will at all times faithfully uphold and defend the laws of Belize,’ when from the 30th of December you have already broken it?”

In response to this claim, Senator Eamon Courtenay presented a letter written to the Public Service Commission concerning the designation of the post of Comptroller of Customs. The letter, written by Cabinet Secretary, Stuart Leslie, requested that the Public Service Commission “share its views” regarding the Prime Minister’s decision to designate the office of the Comptroller of Customs as a section 107 appointment.

According to Senator Courtenay, the Public Service Commission, which he described as UDP-controlled, did not respond to the government and, as a result, the Briceño administration went ahead with its decision.

Other Senators also weighed in on the debate. While Senator Osmany Salas expressed the view that the motion could have been done without its preamble, he said he believed it is a good move by the ruling government, since, according to Senator Salas, it binds them to their promises and puts on the record what they intend to achieve.

In his remarks, he said that he would like to see a reform of the electoral system. He then commented that the Election and Boundaries Commission is a shell and that the government needs to commit to creating a fully functional Elections and Boundaries Commission. According to him, presently the majority of the commission’s work is delegated to the Elections and Boundaries Department.

“Nowhere here was there any mention of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption [UNCAC]. And, while different aspects of the motion are consistent with what UNCAC recommends or provides for, I would like to see, I would like to hear from the government a commitment to revive the UNCAC processes, which was allowed to stall and come to a stretching halt under the previous administration,” stated Senator Salas.

Senator Isabel Bennet, in her presentation, remarked that the Good Governance motion put forward by the PUP set a standard for the ruling party and the people of Belize. She then went on to posit that the objectives laid out in the motion will hinge on synergy between the Belizean people and the new Government. She said that the motion calls for participation, responsiveness, consensus, equability and inclusivity, and accountability, among other key principles.

Newly appointed UDP Senator, Sheena Pitts, echoed the call for the ruling administration to implement legislation to realize its promises. She emphasized that since the PUP government has identified the problems, it is now time to form solutions and implement them.

“You want to pass legislation — what legislation? We have not been provided with any legislation to see what it is they intend to do, how it is they intend it to work. So really, we are being reduced here, in this setting, and it is a disservice, Madam President, to deal with a motion without any concrete material to appreciate what this good governance is about,” Senator Pitts pointed out.

Senator Pitts also called on the lead government Senator to ensure that all members of the upper house be afforded full disclosure of all Senate business and documents. This would ensure that all members are on equal footing when they participate in debates and decision-making to carry out the business of parliament. In the past, constant calls were made by the PUP to the then ruling UDP administration to disclose all information concerning the business of parliament to the opposition prior to sittings of Parliament. Senator Pitts is now calling on the new government to see to it that this is done.

In his remarks, Senator Aldo Salazar said that, while he applauded a move for good governance, he believed that the motion lacks substance. “We on this side are certainly in support of good governance, so it’s not, and I would not want it to be said — these are all…I won’t even say lofty ideals, these are good ideals, as Senator Salas said, he likes the spirit of it, but a spirit is just a ghost. All we are saying on this side is that we want more than just spirit. We applaud a move to good governance, but we want more than just spirit,” he said.

Senator Keven Herrera, speaking on behalf of the business community, stated that the businesses in the country have for a long time been frustrated by the failure of past administrations to implement reform measures.

“You know that reforms are the easy part; bringing the bills and passing them in the legislature is easy. The difficulty is to ensure that the intention of these reforms, of these proposed changes, materializes. We’ve seen massive violations between 2008 and current of the Finance and Audit Reform Act, of many of the reforms that we have spent so much time in bringing to this honorable legislature,” he said.

“I would hope that when we look at effecting these measures through the various legislation that we will seriously consider the structure to ensure that they are complied with. I think that is the fundamental weakness that we have been seeing, and quite frankly, it has been extremely frustrating for the business community,” he further said.

In closing the debate, Senator Eamon Courtenay reminded the upper house of the intention of the motion being tabled:

“ It is important for me to repeat that the purpose behind this motion is to put on record in the House of Representatives and the Senate the intention of the People’s United Party to implement the good governance agenda that it adopted by a resolution of the National Party Council, that found its way into our manifesto, Plan Belize, and which was endorsed by 58.8% of the electorate on the 11th November 2020. This da nuh ‘The best is yet to come’.” Senator Courtenay said.