REPORT #37 Jan 1999
UDP AND PUP GUILTY OF VIOLATIONS OF THE BELIZE CONSTITUTION?


Produced by the Belize Development Trust
Both major parties of Belize have been in office during the last ten years. During that time, both parties have ignored the Constitution and chosen to ignore Section 90 of the Belize Constitution continuing to operate the election system in flagrant violations.

In this section the electoral divisions are supposed to provide a mechanism to provide equal representation by population.

A previous Chief Elections officer said that he did not put it to the legislature because he already knew, that the party in power would not pass the necessary legislation to bring the electoral divisions in line with the requirements of the Constitution.

One does not have to wonder why too long? The current electoral divisions give the Belize District and the capital of this district, Belize City an inordinate amount of representation in the British monarchist sytem we use. This town is also the center of a service economy, not productive and carries a huge tax burden from the revenues of the nation as a whole. If fact, one could say, that most of the national debt is spent on just this one town. In the old days, this town was the old capital. It had a mentality of Chicle and Logwood exploitation of the interior districts of Belize. Indeed, the culture and social milieu of this town, still think culturally they represent the nation. The town is also full of ne'er do wells, that cannot make a decent living in the service sector and lack the business and management abilities to move to the more rural agricultural districts and make a living there. These most often see the political office of elected representative as a cash cow and a steady salary for at least five years, if they should happen to win. The keys to the treasury are hotly contested in this port town.

The facts are, that of the 28 electoral divisions throughout the nation of Belize, 16 of them represent 70% more eligible voters than the 13 electoral divisions in the port town of Belize City.

They say Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. This can be seen in practice by the cliques that commandeer the electoral divisions in the port town, ignoring the Belize Constitution section 90, which if followed would give the port town lesser representatives and the rural five other districts more representation in the national legislature. As it should be. One does not even have to cry political reform. One just simply has to comply with the current Belize Constitution. But both major parties have been in power for five year terms and have failed to correct these discrepancies. When one considers, that the British monarchist centralized system of parliamentry parties is a spoils exploitation system for the benefit of a few in the political ruling class, one can see why both the PUP and the UDP members led by their party leaders have not only ignored the Belize Constitution, but criminally and flagrantly violated it with the continuance of an illegal representation practice that favors this old capital and all the ne'er do wells, that cannot succeed in business otherwise. This perpetuated criminal mafia mind set is a result of the practice of power corrupting. The current political party setup in the way the country is run, by a party and a strong man elected dictator leader gives one port town, a gang of members who enter the system of British political organization, with the intent of spoils and exploitation, the right to use the whole nation as their personal fiefdom.

What chance does political reform recommendations have for the Constitution, when the current Constitution is not obeyed either, by both political parties. Democracy is a mockery in Belize. It is more than electing a port town Belize City gang to make a Cabinet, pass their laws and rules with a rubber stamp legislature. What solutions do you have to wrest the control of the nation from this port town crowd in one district and distribute power more equitably in a democracy, throughout the nation? How can such solutions be implemented, when the political parties perpetuate violations of the Constitution to serve the ends of individual ambitions of these port town residents? How does the nation put power where it belongs? Shared equitably with all six districts?

References:
Reporter Newspaper articles and letters to the Editor.
Debate on the Belize Culture List 1998.

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