Excerpt from 7News for Friday, March 10, 2017:

Jules Vasquez (7News reporter): “Will you play favorites and say Shyne Barrow, for example, Jamal, you da mi nephew, I will tell the voters I support Jamal.”

Hon. Michael Finnegan (area rep, Mesopotamia): “To be honest, I would want my nephew to win, but as fair as I am and as fair-minded that my party is, I believe that every UDP deserves to have a crack at that pie if they so choose so.”

Editor Amandala

Dear Sir,

I watched with disgust an interview conducted by Channel 7’s Jules Vasquez with the Hon. Michael Finnegan on Friday night, March 10, 2017, in which they discussed his (Hon. Finnegan) impending retirement from electoral politics and the subsequent assigning/support of same to his nephew and son of the Prime Minister, Jamal Shyne Barrow.

His response, as shown above, was shameful, and should serve as an eye-opener for Belizeans as to how the minds of the ruling UDP fraternity thinks.

The Hon. Finnegan’s response represents their attitude, their way; the UDP way … the transferring of Belize’s electorate patrimony to family members and UDP insiders so they could enjoy a piece of the pie, so to speak.

Belizeans, myself included, would have certainly felt much better if we would have heard the Mesopotamia representative speak more of his nephew’s desire to be given the opportunity to serve the people of Mesopotamia, rather than speak of getting a crack of the pie.

This temperament, in my view, must be discontinued, and Belizeans should vehemently denounce politicians and leaders who engage in this sort of family anointment, or transferring of one’s role to another family member upon retirement, as if Belize is a family heirloom.

We don’t want any more “pie eating;” we want politicians who are servants of the people and who see their being elected as an opportunity and a covenant with the people to serve the people.

Regards,
Benjamin Carr