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The contract is for an incredible 22 years and the Leader of the Opposition called the selection "cronyism." Today the debate in the Senate was a lot less fiery but the social partners raised their concerns - not just with Rodriguez in particular but with the issues affecting the Auditor General's office on a whole.

Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator
"The determination for seniority as it stands for public officers generally is something that really needs to be looked at. In important offices like the Auditor General, as I like to call it, 4th branch institutions, safeguard institutions, it's very important that qualifications and experience play a very important part in your upper mobility but even more so what is important are performance appraisals. This is how the people of Belize get to know that the people that they're paying in these offices are doing what they're hired to do and that their competence is being tested and periodically reviewed."

"We are constitutionally required to recommend to the governor general who becomes the auditor general. That is not a function that is before anyone else. And I, without the benefit of understand or participating in the procedure, even more so, i have absolutely no point of reference for Maria Rodriguez. I was not furnished with her resume, I was not furnished with her qualifications, I was not furnished with anything other than my little google searches on who she was."

Kevin Herrera, Business Senator
"Once the accountant general submits those reports, the auditor general has just 3 months to complete his or her report and if there's an extension then that has to come to the National Assembly and only the National Assembly can grant that extension."

"That has never been done. I am not aware of any request coming from the accountant general for an extension. Again, a complete violation of the finance and audit report. I'm not generally cynical but I'm beginning to get the feel that these systems are perhaps not supposed to work for some reason or the other."

Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business
"The mechanisms in the audit and reform act need to be looked at again to ensure that the accounts and the audits take place in a timely manner and I do believe that one of the main problems is man power and so we have to harness the advantages of technologies to ensure that government accounts are kept up to date, government accounts are fed into the accountant general's department on a timely basis in a way that they can be properly accumulated, properly developed and presented to the auditor general on a timely basis. With respect to the qualifications to the candidate that is before you, the post was advertised for over 6 weeks, the qualifications were listed there, she satisfied the requirements and therefore she was shortlisted. The panel that interviewed was comprised of the financial secretary, the Cabinet secretary and the CEO in the Ministry of the Public Service. All people who have experience in governance and public service and who are not politicians."

The bill was passed in the Senate and her appointment is confirmed.