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But what about the diaspora? Are they plugged in and engaged? Well, it seems so because some Belizeans living abroad have expressed interest in voting in the April 2019 referendum. It has been the forefront of of the social media dialogue and today Caribbean Shores Rep. Kareem Musa took it a step further. He presented to the media a proposed amendment to the representation of people act to allow Belizeans living abroad to vote in the referendum. He explained his recommendation this morning.

Hon. Kareem Musa, PUP Caribbean Shores Representative
"Currently the way that the legislation is structured, the representation of people act there is a requirement at section 5 (2) of the act that you must be resident at an address in Belize for a minimum of two months in order for you to re-register. As you are aware the Belizeans living abroad do not fall under this category and as such this particular legislation disenfranchise a whole sector of Belizeans who no doubt contribute greatly to the development of our country."

"We are talking Belizeans who each of us must know an individual, a friend, a relative, who lives abroad and we all know how much they value their country, how much they want to have an input in their country so I thought it best that we present a members bill because it is a very under-utilized bill that is provided for in the standing orders, it is actually standing order number 83 which allows any member of parliament be it government side or opposition to present a bill."

Courtney Weatherburne, reporter
"Could you provide more details in terms of the bill itself, what does it provide for?"

Hon. Kareem Musa, PUP Caribbean Shores Representative
"Section 5 (2) as I mentioned has a very clear requirement that you must be resident for at least two months. There is an exception to that law and the exception only apply for students studying abroad because obviously they are not here, they may be in Jamaica, Trinidad, the US, they are not here but they can still register under the representation of people act by virtue of them being students abroad. There is also the exception of government employees, officials, diplomats who are living and working abroad they too can register to vote not just in the referendum but in the general election, town and village council elections so what I am proposing is a second exception but tailored specifically to deal with the registration of persons living abroad who do not satisfy the two month requirement so what that entails is that there would have to be separate list where their ID cards will have to stipulate that they are being registered under section 5 (2) A that will allow them just to vote in the referendum, not to be registered to vote in any area because they do not fall under that category they can't vote for an area representative because they do not live in that particular area and so it is specifically for them to vote in the upcoming referendum."

"It is my hope that the Prime Minister will take on this baton and will take carriage of this particular bill and I think it can get bi-partisan support, it is such a huge national issue and I think it's golden opportunity for both sides of the divide, both sides of the isle to say listen, let us unite on this particular issue."

So the next step is to present the proposed amendment to the clerk which Musa says should be done by the end of this week. Then it has to be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper. There is also a 3 month waiting period. Musa admits it is a long process and it is not as simple as any other motion. He says this proposed amendment needs all the support it can get from both the government and the opposition. We will keep following to see how far this goes - but, in Belize's parliament, the success rate of bills sponsored by the opposition is zero.