And in his address, Prime Minister Barrow also made an unexpected gesture
to the Caribbean Court of Justice. As we told you last night, the Court is up
and running, but only two countries are using it as a court of last appeal.
Well soon, there should be three. PM Barrow committed to aligning with the CCJ.
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“The significance of our apparent unwillingness to replace the Privy
Council with our own first class jurist is not lost on our populations. It can’t
help but contribute to cynicism about the seriousness of our commitment to Caribbean
identity. I can hardly say this just to be a scold since Belize in this matter,
one of the guiltiest of parties. I introduce the subject rather in order to
employ precept and example. I commend the merit of the court as a critical lynchpin
of our movement and I also undertake this year to propose here at home the constitutional
amendment that will allow Belize to sign on to the appellate jurisdiction.”
In 2004, when the CCJ Bill was brought to the House of Representatives
by then Prime Minister Said Musa, the then UDP opposition voted against it,
because they would only give support contingent on Musa’s agreement to
a package fiscal reforms which the Musa government called extortion. With the
current House majority, the Barrow Government does not need opposition support
for a CCJ constitutional amendment. And while that is domestic politics, this
week the PM is thinking regional. He told us that for him as Chairman, the global
financial crisis and the region’s response to it is at the top of his
agenda.
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“And Prime Minister Manning made the point, he was there at the start,
or almost at the start that there was never any doubt but that the process of
integration would be attended by severe challenges, by extreme difficulties.
The fact that those challenges are made even more problematic by the global
economic and financial crisis is a matter that we can’t ignore. But nobody,
as I understand it, ever thought this would be easy. So it is just a matter
of trying to muster the political will and trying to come up with the technical
and practical adjustments and flexibility that will enable us ultimately to
reach this goal of integration.”
Jules Vasquez,
Finally is the global financial crisis pushing it towards that with a greater
sense of urgency?
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“Absolutely and that is the first issue on the agenda for discussion
this morning and I think it is given that kind of priority in recognition of
the fact that it does act as a kind of spur for us to quickly get our house
in order, in order to deal with the challenges and perhaps take advantage of
the opportunities that the crisis presents.”
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