| Turning back to the views of civil society, we report now on their concern about what they believe are missteps with the proposed Belize Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill of 2021.
In that draft legislation, the government wants to enshrine a requirement that all members of the Belize Advisory Council, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the Public Services Commission, and the Security Services Commission must vacate their posts before each general election.
Reform watchers say this would be retrograde - stripping these important bodies of their independence.
Well, the 4 social partner senators have communicated that concern to the Prime Minister in their letter from last week.
They said, quote, "We believe that the Belize Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill is a departure from good and transparent governance, and unlike the Government's resolution in the Good Governance in Belize Motion 2021, does not ensure that the four affected bodies 'be free from political interference', nor re-establishes their integrity and impartiality." End quote.
And, for good measure, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry wrote a letter today to Julius Espat, the Chairman of the House Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee. That's the House Committee which is currently reviewing this bill.
That letter begins by saying, quote, "The... Chamber... writes to formally place on record our call on the Government… to withdraw the… (Tenth Amendment) Bill… on the grounds that the contents of the proposed amendment run counter to sound democratic principles." End quote.
This evening, during our Zoom conversation with Senator Osmany Salas, he told us why his constituents from the NGO community have similar views to those of the Chamber:
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