by Colin Hyde
The PUP under the reform-minded Said Musa was responsible for increasing the number of senators from 8 to 12 in their 1998-2003 government, with the pie being divided into 6 for Said’s side, 3 for the UDP side, and 3 for independent parties – the churches, the business sector, and the trade unions – and the president, with the power to break deadlocks, being handpicked by Said’s side. Belizeans appreciated the added voices in the senate, but many wanted one with more teeth. The PUP responded by offering an elected senate, which they included as a promise in their 2008 manifesto, and the UDP countered with a 13th senator, a representative from the NGOs, in theirs.
The UDP won in 2008, but let that 13th senator campaign promise slide, and they let it slide again in their 2012-2015 government.
It’s possible that the UDP leaders were deceivers. It’s possible that when the UDP opened the mouth of this senate they had promised, and saw a giant canine where once there were only molars, they got cold feet. It’s possible the delay by the UDP camp might have everything to do with the ICJ. One of the powers our Constitution gives the Senate is “authorizing the ratification (including adhesion or accession) of any treaty by the Government of Belize, including any treaty for the settlement of the territorial dispute between Belize and the Republic of Guatemala.” The UDP signed on to going to the ICJ back in 2008, a matter that needed the blessing of the Senate.
When the UDP finally installed the 13th senator, it had successfully splintered the churches and plucked from a minor faction, a representative who was in their hip pocket. Rumor has it that the leader of the minority church faction was promised a cement church with pews on the KHMH grounds. When environmentalist Osmany Salas was sworn in as the 13th senator, in early 2017, the only threat to the ICJ matter was when it was put before the people in a referendum.
Prior to the present disappointing Senate Enquiry there have been two Senate Enquiries, one during a PUP administration and one under a UDP administration. While no one went to jail or had their house and lot taken away for dirt that was unearthed in those enquiries, the people got an expanded view of their leaders: how they handled the people’s business, which of them had very unclean hands, and who owned who. That Senate Enquiries don’t have sharp teeth doesn’t make the exercise a dud. The problem with this one that is going nowhere is that it was a hijacking, basically at the behest of Waterloo.
The seed for the present enquiry was planted when someone in, or associated with Cabinet, for their reason or reasons, loosened their tongue, broke confidentiality for Channel 7, and Waterloo, which wanted revenge, got its teeth into it. The targets here are the PM and his finance minister, Chris Coye. The principals of Waterloo, a cruise tourism port project that was rejected, believed the aforementioned two didn’t do enough to see their project through, and they opened their pocketbook for mud-slinging ads on Channels 7 & 5. His Majesty’s opposition party gleefully piled on to whip up the hysteria, and wala – the Senate got suckered into launching an enquiry. I will add that the Business senator had axes to grind, and the NGO senator has to be “convinced” to support projects that involve the sea and mangroves.
There were/are things, many, to talk about. Confining ourselves to what happened last week, the Senate enquirers asked the Cab Sec and Minister Coye to speak on matters that took place in Cabinet, and got peeved when the gentlemen read statements and refused to answer questions. Because it is collective, what happens in the Cabinet room is like a meeting in a “single” head. The guys could have answered questions, only with permission from the Cabinet.
The accusation is that as public officials the guys should have had no hesitation about divulging what they discussed behind closed doors. But from time to time there will be things the Cabinet prefers to keep confidential. Surely, we appreciate the “to and fro” that goes on behind closed doors. You can’t tell me that what I tell you is private, and then you go to the nearest rooftop and start mouthing off. You can’t open private mail.
If Belize wants Cabinet discussions to be public, then Belize must change the law. The only advantage we could get from that is theater. If Cabinet affairs were public fare, then the business of that body would be conducted differently. If Cabinet meetings were public fare, then the Cabinet members would have a PRIVATE powwow BEFORE gathering in a place where what they say or propose can be used against them.
Let Majestic Yard be the last monument for our George
Take my word on this, brothers and sisters, if a stop isn’t put to this train, now, now, now, someday there’ll be no space for other heroes. Some lost soul wandering through here reportedly said we might be the end of the world. Well, there are more firsts here than anywhere else. On this path we’re on, a certain Rover will get a monument. A Rover in a plastic bubble sarcophagus, my colegas, that’s the kind of thing that’s possible only in Belize. I guess the British car makers would appreciate that one.
Ha, ha, when Dean Barrow got a break to lead, the fos thing he did was, ehm, buy a Rover, and he one-upped George with a late model. Well, “late” it is because – now this is according to what I yer, meaning it could be lie – the same two men whose names were linked with the brother who stood trial for criminally burning Paslow, broke into a garage and engaged in vandalism. Please, I said it could be a lie.
I believe you know the minister who is at fault here. No, it’s not Francis. Ooh, a good guess! It’s a real lesson watching dem PUP. As a schoolboy, Francis never got a demerit, never got a whipping, and was never guilty of a truant day. He is repeatedly voted the least likely candidate fu bon kyandl before an election. As leader of da blue party he didn’t consult mystic forces about any election, though he was dragged off with the crowd to the séance at Caye Chapel.
My friends, what do you do with a guy who is altogether too civilized, too removed from the hurly burly to be in politics? You pair him with a big brother named Albert Vaughan!
It isn’t Dolores. Oh yes, she adores Uncle George, and many of us do see that gentleman’s fine points, but time has made Dolores see a little virtue in Belizeans not painted blue. She might even have developed some love for Philip Stanley.
It’s that damned doppelganger Henry Charles! Boy, if he was ascetic he might even match the lean physique. For gudnis sake, Henry Charles, you must stop! We are living in a democracy. There are other heroes. Are you out to corral every space for George Price? Everywhere you turn, in every town and city, there’s a GP Aali, a GP Street, a GP Boulevard, a GP Highway, a GP statue. If yu can’t think about us, well, think about yourself. Dammit man, at the pace you are going, there won’t be any space left for you!
Everywhere you turn, it is George, George, George. Okay, Hector Silva has his airstrip. But what about Said? I don’t see anything for him. What about Lindy? Well, you’d better find something new for him, because someday the stadium will go back to its rightful name. It’s like Albert Cattouse never existed. Sure, he had a building, but when the fire sale was on I believe that got dispersed, with the lock, the stock, and the barrel.
Look, we do have other heroes. Seriously, there are a few statues people like me really want to see in Belize. We should have one of Jimmy Carter, one of Fidel Castro, and one of Marcus Mosiah Garvey!
Of course, George P is a great hero. We NIP give devils their due. Whoa there, there’s no need for crying, or anger, or for temper tantrums. If you need consolation, there’s actually a last vacant space for another monument, and for George alone. Those of you who love Wind in the Willows know about the hero’s last song. Aha, well right there in Ms. Lita’s the man who wore Khaki is the story about Majestic Yard and the terrible insurrection!
You know that incarceration is a terrible thing, and when one sacrifices himself, risks his freedom in the fight for the freedom of his people, his people see a champion. And so it was for our Price, from Majestic Yaad all the way in his Rover to Independence Hill!