So, as we end the news tonight - we do so with the headline story - there will be no referendum on Wednesday April 10th. Government has to re-strategize and come again. This is after the Court of Appeal said it needs 21 days before it can hear any appeal of a Supreme Court decision.
So the Chief Justice's injunction against the referendum stands. To try and cure what the Chief Justice suspected may be lacking in the writ of referendum - government is getting ready to go to the Caribbean Court of Justice, to lift the injunction, and the House of Representatives to get majority support.
But., at what cost? And will there be money to keep up the education and the political campaign? We asked the PM today:
Reporter
"The funds are programmed and they are programmed to peak on April 10th. So now you have another 38-50 days. Explain how will this affect the education campaign and your own party's machinery?"
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"In terms of the education campaign, we will have to find some kind of supplementary allocation. This matter is far too important, is far too fundamental for us simply to be satisfied with saying the money wasn't programmed and it is there. It's got to be found by way as I said some kind of supplementary allocation. In terms of the party's funds, that's a little trickier, but our party's campaign for the yes vote with respect to what our people are doing on the ground, is not necessarily as expensive as you think. In the end, same position as with the government. Whatever additional funds need to be found by the party will be found."
Reporter
"What is the reaction of the friends of Belize, the international community who are all looking at your every move?"
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Clearly, there is mixed reaction. What is more concerning is the fact that when you talk about money, that OAS office for example at the adjacency zone which you know plays a huge key role in terms of trying to ensure that the confidence building measures are not breached and playing honest broker in the event any flashpoint incident between Belize and Guatemala were to occur. The group of friends which funds that office always made clear this is not a blank cheque. We are doing this to get you to the point of the referendum. Delays in that regard I think can have a far more deleterious effect in terms of if they were to become impatient and to say that they withdraw their funding, I think that would be a disaster."
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