P.U.P. leader, Francis Fonseca is taking Prime Minister Dean Barrow to court. He says the Prime Minister is acting illegally by not allowing the thirteenth Senator to be appointed. Five years ago, in 2010, this government passed the Sixth Amendment which contained twenty-three sections in total. All those sections have been put into play except two – the two which specifically speak to the appointment of the thirteenth Senator. This morning Fonseca filed his claim at the Supreme Court and at a press conference held after, he said that claim is a demand for greater oversight. According to the P.U.P. leader, the party has long supported the appointment of a thirteenth Senator as a matter of urgency.
Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader
“Mr. Barrow and the U.D.P. pledged and promised the Belizean people to restore and maintain good governance by reforming the Senate to ensure that those Senators nominated by the Opposition and N.G.O.s together constitute the majority and by empowering the Senate to initiate and conduct public inquiries into mismanagement or corruption by officials in Central Government or statutory bodies. Barrow and the U.D.P. have now abandoned the pledge, broken this promise and have turned their backs on governance reform and accountability.”
Te thirteenth senator was actually a campaign promise of the Barrow administration, and the legislation contrived and passed by this government. So why hasn’t it happened yet? The Prime Minister has an explanation for that. He says that after second thought, he realized an additional Senator for the N.G.O.s could paralyze the government. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. But the P.U.P. says that there’s no truth to that fairy-tale.
Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader
“The thirteenth senator will not be a source of paralysis in government as Mr. Barrow continues to argue. It will be a source of strength and confidence in Belize’s governance and democracy.”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow [File: November 27th, 2013]
“No, the thirteenth senator will then mean that the senate will be controlled by the opposition and non-government senators and they will have the power to paralyze the government. I am very sorry, I am the one who pushed it into a U.D.P. manifesto, and this government pushed it forward in terms of constitutional reform. But then I quickly realized it is a wonderful idea but in practice it will make no sense. The opposition is there to oppose, the so called social partner sectors are not there to ne friends of the government. And if you gave control of the chamber to that combination I am telling you there will be paralysis.”
Eamon Courtenay, Attorney
“The Prime Minister knows, and we know, that that is a lie. It is untrue, and it is not a fact that the thirteenth Senator can lead to paralysis. It is disingenuous for the Prime Minister to say that the appointment of a thirteenth Senator would frustrate his government and cause deadlock like what occurred in the United States when the United States Congress refused to pass an Appropriations Bill or a continuing resolution and therefore brought the government to a halt. Dean Barrow the lawyer knows the Constitution of Belize. Dean Barrow the Prime Minister knows how the system of government works. He knows as a fact that Sections seventy-eight and eighty of the Belize Constitution provide a safeguard against a Senate choosing not to pass legislation that has been passed by the House of Representatives.”