Turning back now to today's press conference….the Prime Minister discussed the possibility that elections could be delayed by a re-districting lawsuit currently before the supreme court.
It's brought by the Belize Peace Movement to challenge the way the electoral divisions are broken down. They say it is not proportional, when the constitution requires that it must be. so, they want to trigger a redistricting exercise, preferably before the next general elections are held.
And, Michael Ashcroft has joined the suit as an interested party, he wants to pay for an expert witness to help the Elections and Boundaries Commission, and the Supreme Court correct the imbalances in the country's 31 electoral divisions.
At today's press conference, the PM said he's not sure what Ashcroft is up to, but delaying the elections is not something he supports:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister
"Isnt the same gentleman about whom we were just talking, hasent he inserted himself now into our electoral affairs? Did he not join as a party to the actions - what does this man wants? Everything he wants to gets in Belize. What I find peculiar, an extremely intriguing feature of all this is that part of the relief that the parties, including Lord Ashcroft are asking in consequence of their challenge is that elections be postponed. And who do you think is representing Lord Ashcroft in this petition? Andrew Marshalleck. Is he not either the, or one of the official lawyers for the People's United Party? The People's United Party wants the elections postponed. Sir, I don't know whether there is time enough for this case to be heard and determined before what continues, in my mind to be the due date for elections. But people must know that if the claimants succeed then there will, as a matter of what's practical, have to be a postponement of the elections so that the redistricting exercise which doesn't take a week or two weeks or three weeks or a month so that that exercise can be finished. It is not the wish of the United Democratic Party, the current administration to postpone elections."
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