- Prime Minister Said Musa, after
consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Dean Barrow, and with his
agreement, announced that he has decided to withdraw from the Orders of the Day
of the House of Representatives meeting scheduled for Friday, 25 October, the
resolution relating to a Referendum. A letter from the
Facilitators, dated 24 October 2002, addressed to the Foreign Ministers of
Guatemala and Belize, states in its relevant part that, "It has now become clear
to us that practical difficulties may make it unrealistic to adhere to (the)
deadline for holding of the referenda. Accordingly, we wish to invite the
Parties to work instead towards holding the national referenda as soon as
mutually convenient.We emphasize, of course, the importance we continue to
attach to the referenda being held as early as
practicable."
Since the referenda will not be held by 30
November as originally envisaged, and since no new date has yet been agreed, it
is unnecessary to proceed with the Resolution in the
House.
The Facilitators made it clear in their letter that
the proposed date for the referenda had been a "procedural recommendation" as a
pre-condition to the implementation of the Proposals, and not a part of the
Proposals themselves.
The Prime Minister notes that Belize
was and is ready to comply with the deadline set by the Facilitators for the
holding of the referenda, but recognizes that the Facilitators recommended that
the referenda be held on the same day in both countries.
In the same letter above referred to, the Facilitators have asked the Parties to
agree to a meeting at Ministerial level at the OAS in Washington with Secretary
General Gaviria and the Facilitators on Tuesday, 5 November.They propose that
apart from the issue of referenda, the meeting should also deal with the further
extension of the Confidence Building Measures and with the OAS Mission report on
the issue of the encroachments into Belize across the western border by the
Melchor de Mencos municipality.We are awaiting the recommendations of the
Facilitators to settle this issue.