We also asked Fonseca - as a former Attorney General - what he thinks of the fact that his administration's current attorney general has to hire an attorney for legal advice.
AG Antony Sylvestre is being represented in the re-districting challenge by Senior Counsel Eamon Courtney - with taxpayers footing the bill. He has also in the past been represented by his own predecessor, Magali Marin Young. Fonseca didn't have that when he was doing the job - but he says times have changed:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education and Culture
"Listen, Things have changed considerably since 20 years ago. We have a lot more litigation, a lot more work In the Attorney General's ministry they are, I can tell you, overburdened with work from every single ministry. The government bureaucracy has grown tremendously over those 20 years. So, you know, it's natural that that has happened, that the AG's ministry simply does not have within the capacity to do everything. They do a lot of good work, excellent work. We have very good Crown councils there who are doing very good work. But this is not anything new. As you all know, under the previous administration, I mean, Mr. Barrow, the Prime Minister's family is. This is his ex-wife, his brother, his brother. They were the legal counsellors for almost every major case that the government had. So it's not new. And in this case, we're dealing with some serious matters that have been brought forward. And the government wants to ensure that we get some senior councils, to represent the government of Belize. Because, you know, ultimately, we want to ensure that the rights of the state and the rights of the Belizean people are protected."
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