They say actions speak louder than words. But words do have meaning, and judging by the words spoken by our Prime Minister in the House on Friday, 25th May, and repeated in television ads yesterday, it seems he still has not gotten the message sent by the Belizean people. He still thinks he is supposed to play the part of the strong ruler, the tyrant or the despot, until it is time for the next general elections. It must be that his knowledge of the Belizean Constitution gives him that notion. It stands to reason then, as the late Baba Odinga Lumumba and others have said, that Belizeans need urgently to re-write our Constitution.
We need to amend or draft a new Constitution if our nation is to truly live up to the creed of our national anthem, and “let despots flee this tranquil haven of democracy”. If we don’t, we run the risk of this tranquility, this peaceful nature of the Belizean people being stretched to the limit, and then lost, and then no longer will it be said that Belize has been spared the fate of other liberated peoples who had to walk the road of blood before achieving their true independence.
Figuratively speaking, the Belizean people, utilizing every sober and peaceful means available, grabbed the Prime Minister in his shirt front, lifted him partly off his feet, shook him a few times, and then shouted in his quivering face, “We’ve had enough!! Now take that rubbish, that piece of paper you say is a guarantee, roll it up, mash it up, and throw it in the closest dirt box, or use it for toilet paper if you will, but we are not paying another red cent towards that private UHS debt, YOU HEAR??!!!!”
But in withdrawing his UHS guarantee motion in the House on Friday, the language used by Prime Minister Said Musa is not that of a servant who has been given an order by his master, or a CEO who has been given a directive by his board of directors. Rather, it is one of a benevolent master, who has heard the pitiful cries of his subjects and servants, or an employer who is tired of hearing the grumblings of his employees, and is moved to pity or impatience, and, condescendingly, has decided to see what he can do to make them “cool off” a little bit.
Hear his words; it is clear to him that the Belizean people “agree” that we need to do all we can to ensure that the best health care is made available to all Belizeans, rich and poor (Nobody ever said anything to the contrary; but that is his way of saying that Belizeans want to have their UHS cake and eat it too.); and they would like for Government to get the private sector involved to share in the solution so that the burden doesn’t fall on taxpayers. In his great wisdom and kindness, then, he has endeavored to get some private sector parties to help out, and he is happy to announce, that indeed he has found such a private sector party, whom he will be discussing with to see how we can settle “our” debt without any cost to the Belizean taxpayer.
The Prime Minster, then, is still insisting that WE, the Belizean people, have a debt, because of the guarantee that HE signed with the Belize Bank. And all that the people have been telling him for the past two weeks, is that we DON’T have a debt: we refuse to authorize the guarantee that you signed. He has refused to acknowledge the power of the people.
The Prime Minister is obviously firm in his conviction that our Constitution gives him the power to rule with a strong hand for five years. Until the elections are called, and the National Assembly is dissolved, the cries and pleas of the electorate, the subjects and servants, are to be listened to and sympathized with, and he may allow some of what they say to affect or delay his decisions. But his job as Prime Minister is to RULE, and that means he will do what HE thinks is best, regardless of the expressed opinions of the vast majority of the people.
Even if every single voter casts a vote of “no” to a referendum question on the guarantee, to him it is unofficial. Only he can authorize an official referendum; there is no Constitutional requirement for him to obey that call as a directive.
In fact, under this Constitution the people can give NO DIRECTIVE to the Prime Minister. They can only plea, and cry, demonstrate and make noise, and blow hot air, “like wan lee breeze”. Aside from illegal acts of violence, perhaps the only way an effective DEMAND can be given to the Prime Minister is by massive strike or boycott action; and even then, it is his discretion, under the Constitution, that will determine if and when he advises the Governor General to take action.
The Prime Minister, the ruler, the tyrant, for that is what it is, will determine when and if he will condescend to make some appeasement to the desires of his subjects and servants, the Belizean people. Under the present Constitution, unfortunately, that is, and will likely continue to be the attitude of the elected Prime Minister, because that is the power that the Constitution gives him. That mentality will not change, until the Constitution is changed, to re-define the power formula, “let despots flee”, and put the power in the hands of the Belizean people. Until that day, the Belizean people are not truly independent, but still subjects in Her Majesty’s kingdom, and servants to the one who becomes our Prime Minister.