So while things went more or less predictably in the Senate Chamber, outside, the Belize Progressive Party was trying to shake things up. They've had
absolutely no luck at the polls, but the third party is trying to tap into public sentiment by its enthusiastic embrace of the United Nations
Convention against Corruption. Today was international anti-corruption day and the BPP used the opportunity to key in on the fact that the government
of Belize has not signed the convention. They started with a very small protest outside the national assembly where Bobby Lopez explained why it is
meaningful:…
Bobby Lopez - BPP
"We don't like to be blacklisted, we don't like to look bad in the world community and corruption continues to escalate so it is important that we let
them know that we, the BPP on this day would have been signing that document because that was our pledge."
Mike Rudon - Channel 5 News
"Is it a source of disappointment to you that you all keep coming out but the numbers don't seem to come out? It's like people don't take serious
what's happening."
Bobby Lopez - BPP
"Well I'm not going say it's not disappointing but history will record that we stood up, we made our voices heard, we took action, and we continue to
call. One day it will be signed and incidentally today the United Nations and Transparency International are calling for criminalization of grand
corruption which involves exactly what David Nanes Schnitzer was involved with and we let him go on a 10,000 dollar bail and he's now disappeared from
Belize."
That was this morning in Belmopan – and this afternoon, they were in Belize City taking symbolism as far as it can go. The BPP's shadow minister of
foreign affairs symbolically signed the convention on front of the Prime Minister's Coney Drive Office. Lopez explained the meaning of it:..
Bobby Lopez - BPP
"This is a symbolic signing to show that with the stroke of a pen, we can become a signatory and in essence 178 country that would have signed on to
this convention today. This was a pledge by the Belize Progressive Party and in keeping with our pledge; we wanted to do this symbolic signing today.
And of course today we call on our own government. The Prime Minister, the Honourable Dean Barrow to please to the same for our country; we want to a
part of all the countries that are fighting this scourge of corruption."