The proposed amendments to the Constitution of Belize has stirred reaction from the Bar association as well as individual members of the legal community. But the response from the general public has been minimal to say the least. Well one local lawyer is determined to change that. Today Audrey Matura Shepherd held the first in a series of workshops on the Constitution to give invited members of society a crash course on how our democracy works. Shepherd says she is hoping that the basic knowledge will inspire more voices to join the public debate.
Audrey Matura - Shepherd - VP, Oceana
"We are trying to create a set of people who are genuinely concern so that when they speak they don't come with all the extra baggage and also what we are trying to do is to make p[people see that this issue is one that everybody must get involve with and make them notice that it shouldn't be something that is only the purview of the few attorneys that the average man should have known because where we have fail is that from the day we got independence we should have begun teaching our people about the constitution. Had they learnt about it already they would understand the magnitude of the changes - then they don't have to believe me and they don't have to believe any side. They would have known already in school the basic foundation and then they apply what the rules that are being change now and see if it had really meshes with what they learnt at school as being our constitutional democracy, our constitutional supremacy - you can't learn overnight. All I can advise people is keep on reading, keep on dialoguing and keep an open mind."
Matura advises everyone to get a copy of the Constitution of Belize and more importantly, to read it. A link to electronic versions of the Constitution and the amendments will be available at our website: 7newsbelize.com following tonight's broadcast.
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