Belize’s Prime Minister is now poised to deliver yet another body-blow to the ribcage of the country’s democracy .This move is yet another indication that he is chipping away at freedoms which are guaranteed by the Constitution of Belize. The PM is in a hurry to take advantage of his dwindling power base in the Legislature to introduce a Bill that could dismantle one of his powerful adversaries, the Belize Bar Association-an independent group of professional Attorneys spanning the national political spectrum. It is likely that he will be able to slide this Bill through the Legislature with his slim majority and with the full support of his voiceless minions who cow-tow to him in his over-sized Cabinet. With no back-benchers, he has not got to worry about reining them in. The Prime Minister has the full support of his Attorney General and Foreign Minister who carries an inexplicable heavy chip like a log on his shoulder and a serious grudge against the BA for calling him out for his Foreign Affairs bloopers and for his incompetence as Attorney General. The BA has been very vocal about the PM’s subtle moves in slowly eroding the Constitution of Belize and for not adhering to the fundamental principles that have been enshrine therein. This includes his not-so subtle moves of tampering with the Judiciary. This is no longer an independent pillar of the Belize Constitution. The Prime Minister continues to interfere in every branch of the government. There is no separation of powers. Recently the BA took serious issue when the PM circumvented the function of the Public Services Commission, a toothless body in any case, and elevated a Judge, who is clearly partial to his government, to the Court of Appeals. This Judge, only days before, had made a ruling from the bench of the Supreme Court, in favour of the government. This same Judge has also been criticized by the Bar and the Caribbean Court of Justice, for his flagrant display of incompetence and his long delays in handing down his judgements, sometimes for years, while accused persons languish in prison. The Bar has taken-up this issue and other discrepancies and display of incompetence by this Judge with the PM and the AG before he was elevated. There are now two out of three Judges on the Court of Appeals, who have been handpicked by the Prime Minister. Picture a snowball in Hell. A case against the government has less of a chance. The AG in his role as Foreign Minister also has a number of diplomatic bloopers under his belt. He has been criticized by the President of the Bar Association, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, and collectively by the Bar Association, for his blunders in this arena, including the delicate issue of the border problem with Guatemala. The government has not yet told us that Guatemala has reneged on its commitment for a referendum by the two countries, Belize and Guatemala, on whether or not this matter should be taken to in International Court of Justice. This has prompted an Opposition representative to describe Guatemala as “a serial killer of agreements”. Recently Belize’s Foreign Minister launched an undiplomatic tirade against the United States government accusing them, of among other things “international high-handedness” in an up close and personal diatribe in defence of his youngest brother, who is a fugitive from justice. He is wanted in the United States to answer allegations of medical fraud for which he has not yet been charged. In moving to dismantle the powerful Bar Association, the Prime Minister is signaling that he objects to dissenting voices from within and without his Administration. Opposition political parties could be next.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:27:48 +0000
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