Fourteen
days ago - elections were held, and now, after the naming of a
Cabinet and the assigning of CEO's - the work of the new
Government is officially underway.
And an integral part of that government is the opposition.
While they may be perpetually at odds with the
Administration of the day - the opposition has a crucial role to
play.
And today that opposition took its rightful place - as it was
sworn in at the first ceremonial sitting of the House and
Senate.
7news was in Belmopan and here are the highlights of a day rich
in ceremony but also heavy in substance:
Jules Vasquez Reporting
A new president of the senate
Mark Pech was sworn in along with new Government Senators
Charles Gibson, Lisel Alamilla; for the PUP, Karen Bodden and
Collet Montejo, Marconi Sosa, Mark Lizarraga for business sector;
for the churches, Fr. Noel Leslie; for Labour, Ray Davis; two who
have been re-appointed, Juliet Thimbriel and Lisa Shoman; and one
who has moved from the backbench to the very front - leader of the
Government Business in the senate Godwin Hulse.
And
While
that happened inside the national assembly chamber, outside,
the Steel Band had struck up, and on the stairs an audience of
family and supporters was in place.
And on
the green, political supporters form both sides took their
positions side by side, and the representatives for both sides were
taking their seats.
It was
a study in contrasts, the government side in their white shirts
with red ties - and the opposition all in Guayaberas.
After
the
ceremonial formalities - and there were a great deal of them
today - including the fetching of a new speaker, Attorney Michael
Peyrefitte.
And
once the speaker got settled into his seat - Belize Rural North
Representative Edmund Castro was named as his Deputy
And
then all the other members were sworn in:
Ministers
"I do swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to
Belize and will uphold the constitution and laws; and that I
will conscientiously, impartially and to the best of my ability,
discharge my duties as the Prime Minister of Belize, and do
right to all manner of people without fear or favor, affection
or ill will, so help me, God."
Giving
way
to the Throne Speech by the Head of State - which outlined
Government's plan for the next five years - including compensating
the former owners of BEL and BTL
Sir Colville Young - Governor General
of Belize
"The Government firmly believes that it would be in the interest
of all concerned to settle the payment of compensation without
further delay in order for us to bring finality to this matter.
And my Government will earnestly strive to achieve that goal
early in the present term."
And
while
that is government's business, the political business was
handled by Prime Minister Dean Barrow:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"Mr. Speaker: these were hard-fought elections, with results that were
very close and a testament to just how resilient the Opposition
was, and just how robust our democracy is. In the end, though, the
majority Party's three-seat margin in the House is enough to do
two things: it underlines, not undermines, legitimacy; and it
gives sufficient numerical wherewithal for the Government to
govern legislatively and administratively in the strong and
orderly manner that our system requires. It is also worth
recollecting that the new Government won the majority of the
popular vote as well as of the seats in the House. Add to this its
two thirds share of the nine City and Town Councils, and the
mandate is undoubted. Nevertheless, the Opposition's strong
general election showing demonstrates that we are a country that
is divided almost down the middle. In such circumstances the
Government must and will act on the basis that the nation's large
minority is to be respected both as to its rights and as to its
entitlements. Mr. Speaker, there are some that feel that the last
UDP Administration was in a number of instances tone deaf to
public opinion. Assuming that this was so, the greatly reduced
majority will in and of itself act as a check to any such
tendency. But the new Government also actively seeks
reconciliation. We have already so demonstrated by reaching out to
the social partners and civil society. We have used the
opportunity, provided us by the Constitution and the election
results, to appoint four Senators as Ministers whose background,
qualifications, and integrity are rock-like and known nationwide.
They all come from the professional, private, and NGO ranks; and
the signal this sends should be lost on no one. We are determined
to make this Administration the most talented, effective,
inclusive and honest Government in the entire history of our
country."
Jules Vasquez
"What will be your strategy going forward as the leader of
opposition?"
Hon.
Francis
Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"Well, I think obviously we have election petitions in the
court, and whatever we say and do is without prejudice to those
petitions. Let me make that very clear. But yes, we do have a
responsibility to thousands of Belizeans who supported the
People's United Party. We have a responsibility to the country
of Belize to be as robust an opposition as necessary and as
possible. So yes, we take that responsibility very seriously.
The 14 members of our parliamentary caucus are all in agreement
that we are going stand up and fight for the interests and
rights of the Belizean people, and defend those rights and
interests. We are going to hold the Prime Minister to what he
said today that there will be respect for the members of the
Opposition in terms of not only in dealing with us, but ensuring
that any funds, projects, and activities which takes place in
our constituencies are done through us as the duly elected
representatives of the people of those areas. That is absolutely
essential if we are going to act in good faith on both sides.
That is clear. The interference with our emails, phone calls,
and text messages must end immediately. That took place
throughout the election campaign. The elections are over; that
must end. So, we understand our role, and we are going to do
everything we can, as I said, to defending the Belizean people
across the country. I think this election demonstrated very
clearly that the people are not satisfied with the direction it is
going. They want a change, and they want all of us to come
together to work toward that change. So we understand that; we
respect that. We congratulate the the Government on their
performance - the UDP on their performance in the elections, and
we are prepared to work in good faith with them, but that good
faith must be demonstrated on both sides."
Jules Vasquez
"The election petitions - you mentioned it at the top - you
know, as an attorney, these have 0% success in the Courts of
Belize over the history of Belize - maybe over the past 35
years. Do you feel that the petitions - one is being filed
today; two will be filed next week; and I told another is in the
offing - do you feel that those have any prospect of success?"
Hon. Francis Fonseca
"Well, I will be guided by the attorneys on that matter. If we
felt that they had zero chance of success, we would not file
them. Obviously, we have taken our time to put together a
comprehensive package to file before the courts, and we have
every reason to believe, based on the legal advice that we've
gotten, that there is every chance in respect of those election
petitions."
And the Prime Minister had
his own take on election petitions:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"In the same vein, I enter another word of caution. There is a
right, which our democracy gives, to mount election petitions no
matter how frivolous. But there is, and can be, no right to
confuse or conflate the lodging of election petitions with the
denial of authority to a duly elected Government. The results of
the March 7 general elections are official; the Government is in
place; and we will discharge what is now our sworn duty to
administer the laws of this country, all the laws of this
country."
And
so
a strong government braced by a strong opposition - it should
make for an interesting, evenly-matched term in the House.
Notably,
the only Senator absent from today's proceeding was Joy Grant,
the Minister of Energy, Science and Technology and Public
Utilities. She is
in Brussels - where she was formerly posted as Ambassador to the
European Union - closing off there. Grant had come to
Belize for the election -
not expecting that things would turn out as they did, and that
she would end up being appointed a Minister.
And, one more note, Leader of The Opposition Francis Fonseca is
45, not 46 as we reported last night.
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