The Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition are currently in the Supreme Court due to a lawsuit that the PUP has brought against the Barrow Administration. John Briceno as leader of the PUP, and Julius Espat at the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee are the claimants in this case, and they assert the Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance of spent approximately 1.3 billion dollars in public monies without first seeking parliamentary approval.
They say that this is bad governance, and poor accountability for public spending and they're trying to convince Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin of their position. They are being represented in the claim by the Senior Counsel, Eamon Courtenay and Andrew Marshalleck. And the Government has made an interesting move; they've retained the services of Justin Lockhart Simon, a Queens Counsel from the Caribbean. He had to be called to Bar in Belize this morning in order to represent the Government in this case today.
So, we take you now to the dispute. The public spending that the PUP disputes are hundreds of millions of dollars from the Petrocaribe loans program. You may remember that windfall that the government used to fund many construction projects around the country. Well, the claimants said that the Government did not follow the law and seek prior parliamentary approval. They further assert that going to the house and passing supplementary budget appropriations does not fix this wrong that the Prime Minister committed as the Minister of Finance.
As viewers are aware, the practice of spending public money, and then going to the House of Representatives for approval long after the fact is something that both political parties have done over the years.
But, the PUP's point that seeking to account after the fact is unsafe was brought clearly into focus when Eamon Courtenay was cross-examining the Financial Secretary Joseph Waight. He, the Prime Minister, and the Attorney General are named as defendants, and this afternoon, he was the man in the hot seat. Under Courtenay's cross-examination, Waight revealed that the Government failed to account for almost 100 million dollars in public spending. This money remains unaccounted for since no parliamentary approval has been received years after it has been spent. To use the Fin Sec's words, it "slipped" them.
This evening, when the claimants and their attorneys exited the court, they spoke with the awaiting press about their case, and here's what they had to say:
Hon. John Briceno - Leader of the Opposition/Claimant
"I was actually shocked and dismayed to see how the Prime Minister has virtually abused the Constitution, and the laws of this country, when it comes to spending the people's money. It reminds me that coming to 2008, when he was in Opposition, he criticized our government heavily for spending, then coming to get approval in the National Assembly, and now here comes, doing that, and even worst."
"For us, it is very important to set a precedent now, for this government and for future governments to ensure that this does not happen again. We have every confidence that the next government is going to be a government led by the PUP. And we want to make sure that that does not happen in our government."
Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for the Claimants
"This claim brought by the two leaders has to do with the public's money. It has to do with whether or not a government can take 1.3 billion dollars, spend it on how it wishes, without any accountability to parliament. The Financial Secretary was very clear in his answers. He said that the money that was spent, was spent because there was an urgent and unforeseen need. I brought to his attention that it is hundreds of millions of dollars. He stuck to his line, but I think anybody will know that you cannot spend 1.3 billion dollars as urgent and unforeseen. He accepted that in fact, this was done by special warrants issued by the Prime Minister. He accepted that the Prime Minister was aware when he was issuing those warrants, that the money had not been approved by the National Assembly, and that he advised and informed the Prime Minister that the money was not there, it had not been approved by the National Assembly. Nevertheless, the proceeded. So, they proceeded, knowing full well that they did not have legislative approval, and the Finance and Audit Reform Act sets a limit, which can be exceeded. And he told the court, that they exceeded that limit on a regular basis, and they did so knowingly."
"This case sets the basis for further inquiry, and to find out where all this money went."
Reporter
"What do you make of the FIN SEC's revelation that 100 million dollars went - that it slipped them. That was his word, it slipped them."
Hon. Julius Espat - PAC Chairman/Claimant
"I don't know how you could use the word, 'slip'. This is a professional that you're dealing with. His testimony said that he is the financial secretary for over 12 years if I'm not mistaken. The Prime Minister is one of the leading attorneys in the country before he became Prime Minister. There is no way that they slipped. When the question was asked of the auditor general's report, 2012/2013, was close to 100 million dollars for that year alone, was there a special warrant issued? No. Did it get approval from the House, No. Did even try retrospectively, after 12 years to seek approval. No. And then, that's only 2012/2013."
Queens Counsel Simon is being assisted in the defense of the government by Crown Counsels in the AG's Ministry. They are Samantha Matute-Tucker, the Assistant Solicitor General, and Crown Counsel Agassi Finnegan and Briana Williams.
The case continues tomorrow morning at 9, and we'll tell you how that goes in tomorrow's newscast.
Email
Print