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Also going to the House on Friday is a package of constitutional amendments. It is primarily to make the Caribbean Court of Justice Belize’s final court of appeal – but also bundled in there are amendments to allow an attorney who is a not a member of the National Assembly to be Attorney General - which would still be a ministerial post; and another amendment allowing those who hold dual citizenship to be a member of the National Assembly. Today the Prime Minister explained the thinking behind the amendment while the opposition leader questioned it.

Hon. Dean Barrow,
“There is nothing sinister or strange about this. This happens in a number of Caribbean countries and the rationale is this: the Attorney General is of all Ministers the Minister who is quintessentially a professional. The Minister of Works doesn’t have to be an engineer, the Minister of Education doesn’t have to be a teacher, the Minister of Health doesn’t have to be a doctor but the Attorney General must be a lawyer. You want to get the possible lawyer to become your Attorney General. Very often the best possible lawyer that you can get will not come if it means having to get involved in the hurly burly of politics and it is that sort of recognition that has caused several Caribbean countries to move to a position where they have said, “fine in this one instant because we need an absolutely first rate professional and because there might be difficulty getting such a person if we insist that the person subjects himself or herself to the cut and thrust of debate in the National Assembly, we will provide for our being able to draw from the general public, from the ranks of lawyers in the general public, the best possible breed.’ That is all it is. There is nothing in the least bit sinister.”

John Briceno,
“The Prime Minister will make the argument that he wants to pick the best Attorney General possible to serve the Belizean people and he doesn’t want to restrict himself to the National Assembly. Well again when the constitution was written, there is an area where you can bring the best persons to serve as your Attorney General through the Senate. Any of the Senators that the Prime Minister appoints, he can pick any attorney, make them a Senator, and then appoint them as the Attorney General. The question is, is the Prime Minister trying to bring another system of government through the back door? Is it presidential or republican system? I don’t know. He needs to be clear and come to the Belizean people.”

Hon. Dean Barrow,
“All we’re doing is really giving yourself the flexibility to be able to choose a first class professional who wants to serve but who does not want to serve at the price of his political freedom of action so to speak.”

Later on we’ll have the PM and the Leader of the Opposition Squaring off on UNESCO’s decision to register the Belize Barrier Reef system as a World Heritage Site in danger.