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THE BELIZE TIMES
THINK ABOUT IT A DAY OF SHAME Well, there it is people. The government had it all planned. The six government-appointed Senators were to vote against a motion for a Senate Inquiry and if the three social sector Senator voted along with the three opposition Senators, the UDP President of the Senate would cast his vote making the government have seven Senators voting against the motion. Sure enough the Senators representing the churches, the unions and the private/business sectors voted their conscience and supported the motion for a Senate Inquiry into the Immigration/Penner/Passport scandal. The result of the voting. Six for the Motion. Six against the Motion. The flunkie president then attempted to cast his vote along with the disgraceful government six. Senator Lisa Shoman was waiting for him. Don’t you even touch that dial – Lisa told him. You have no legal authority to vote on or against such a motion. The Constitution of Belize is your boss and it states clearly you Have No Authority to Vote. The flunkie President looked like a pussy-cat caught trying to eat the little gold-fish out of the aquarium. He slinked down in his chair and covered his shameful face behind some tattered papers. So ended a historic Senate meeting. So ended another clear message to the nation. The government has no intention to conduct an IMPARTIAL investigation into the scandal ridden Penner, Castro and the Immigration department. Put another way, the government is saying ‘to hell with the churches, to hell with the Unions, and to hell with the Chamber of Commerce and all the thousands of their member and followers. I, Dean Oliver Barrow, am telling you I will not allow any impartial independent investigation’. There is one other matter we wish to note. Senator Godwin Hulse should not have voted in the Senate. He has violated the Constitution and put himself into a conflict of interest and has called the integrity of himself and his Ministry into question. It is a gross conflict of interest. Wednesday in the Senate was a day of shame for our nation. PATRICK ANDREWS – AWESOME Patrick Andrews came out of Sunday’s convention in Belmopan like the Lion of Judah. His impressive victory has sent a major boost into the rank and file of the People’s United Party and fear into the Pharaohs of the U.D.P. Patrick is the son of U.D.P. hero, the late Joseph Andrews of Cayo. His uncle is a strong UDP, and Manager of one of the local banks. His sister who holds a double Masters degree was an active UDP, but thanks to Dean Barrow, she like many others are drawing away from the disgraced, scandal ridden party. The Patrick Andrews Convention brought out 1,993 voters. Belmopan consists of another 2,000 plus public officers who have to live in fear of UDP victimiza-
tion and so did not attend Sunday’s public convention. The Convention also marks the end of UDP Minister John Saldivar. Patrick’s campaign slogan in English and Spanish was “God, Family and Country”, “Por Dios, Familia y Patria”. Patrick is a strong Christian and is married with two children. His rivals in the convention were Dr. Amin Hegar, Ruth Logan and Oscar Mira. The new comers put up an excellent fight, energizing the voters. They can win the Town Council. Congratulations are in order for all the candidates and their support teams including Maureen Leslie, Patrick’s General. To Patrick and his team, do not ease up. Don’t stop the campaigning. Your goal is to win by the largest voter margin in the history of that constituency. Respect everything. God is Great. CORDEL Leader of the Opposition, and future Prime Minister, Hon Francis Fonseca, is timing the return of Cordel Hyde with major initiatives on the Southside of Belize City and from the Party Executive. The U.D.P. election strategy will clearly be based entirely on bribery and corruption money. Everyone who can be bribed will be bribed. Poor people will be treated like aliens - they will be bought out. It will be up to Cordel and the new PUP team to block and repudiate that old school approach. Remember what the street people used to say – ‘tek dem money and vote them out’.
there is not a single person who is man enough or woman enough to tell him he is wrong. Democracy starts within a politician’s party. The UDP Cabinet Ministers are devoid of back-bone and no one expects any Minister or group of Ministers to hold the Prime Minister to a high standard of governance. The same applies to the UDP members in the National Assembly, who incidentally are all Ministers or Deputy Ministers. In Belize, we are experiencing a pappy-show form of democracy and a low level of good governance. The Prime Minister, who has publicly called himself Prometheus Unbound, has been morphing into Prometheus Unwound. Having started his Prime Ministership with a huge majority in the House of Representatives and high hopes for good government, the man has squandered all good will and degenerated into just another deceitful politician. The chickens are coming home to roost. The lid is off the facade of the government. Everyone now sees Mr Barrow and his government for what they really are. Incompetence, corruption and arrogance rules the land. There was a time, the vaunted Prime Minister could explain away any wrong-doing, any suspicion of abuse and corruption; citizens and the media were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not anymore. The tide has turned against a Prime Minister who has over-reached, over-explained, twisted the truth, become lord and master and now is openly covering up corruption for the past 50 days as the sore festers and the public demand the right thing. Democracy, after all, is of the people, it is by the people, and it is for the people. There is no mention of, for the Prime Minister and his party, anywhere in there.
PRIME MINISTERIAL GOV’T WHISTLE-BLOWER Constitutional lecturers and professors in Britain and the Caribbean in analyzing the British governmental system, always include a caveat. That concern centers around weak Parliaments and strong parties in government i.e. the Executive Branch. Of course, the existence of a weak Judiciary adds to the matrix. What Belizeans are experiencing under the Dean Barrow government is a level of Prime Ministerial government in its negative connotations. Prime Minister Barrow is using his unique set of circumstances to spit in the face of public opinion and what is right and proper in a democracy. The call for an independent investigation into the Penner/passport/immigration scandals is a righteous call. In a functioning democracy there would not have been need for such a Call as the Prime Minister himself would have ordered an inquiry. In Belize, the Prime Minister is openly defiant against large sections of the private sector, unions and other organizations including the constitutional opposition party representing 48 percent of the nation. The Prime Minister can ignore and defy the nation because in his party
A person who comes out in public and exposes wrong doing is referred to as a whistle-blower. In more responsible and mature democracies there are legislations to provide encouragement and protection for those who feel compelled to expose abuse, wrong doing and even criminal acts inside the work-place, whether in the private sector or the public service. It is understood that the leader of the People’s United Party has included a Whistle-Blowers law on the agenda of his party’s reform platform for public discussion early next year. An outstanding whistleblower in the modern history of the U.S.A. was Daniel Ellsberg who revealed the “Pentagon Papers” concerning America’s illegal war in Vietnam. In our present time the greatest whistle-blowers in the world is American citizen Edward Snowden, who is seeking political asylum in Russia. He revealed the nightmarish extent of the U.S.A. government illegal snooping and collection of phone calls, as mail, and text messages – billions of telephone calls are being illegal collected and stored by the U.S.A. Including calls of world leaders, and citizens in other countries.
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2013
In Belize, not a single whistle blowers has dared to come forward. Not from Cabinet, any Ministry, any government department; including “hot-bed of corruption” lands Ministry or cesspool of irregularity Immigration Department. On the Wednesday morning show on Love FM saw Hubert Enriquez and Bobby Lopez added their voice of condemnation against the Prime Minister and especially Minister Godwin Hulse for defying the nation’s calls for an independent inquiry into the immigration department. A lady from Stann Creek, now publicly named, has been brave enough to come public and expose Hon. Edmund Castro for allegedly being involved in the sale of visas through the immigration department. It is an extraordinary act of bravery on her part. Her allegations appear very credible. Belizeans should also know that officials at the US Embassy in Belmopan interviewed this lady for over two hours, showing her dozens of photographs of persons of interest to them who never set foot in Belize but have been given visas. As we write, a second Whistle-Blower has come forward and has evidence of Penner’s wrong doing and of another Minister’s boldface hustling and bribery. There is a powerful saying in the Holy Bible – whatsoever is done in the dark will come out in the light. CHRISTMAS WEATHER It is Thursday 7 November 2013. It could well be 7 December. The weather has gone from humid, hot and uncomfortable, to misty morning with cool Christmas breeze. This Christmas will be a fabulous one for the one percent of the population who are wealthy and comfortable; for government Ministers and their cronies. For police, public officers, nurses, teachers and soldiers it will be another stressful December in which their stagnant, low-salaries are unable to meet their bills. They are not dreaming of a bright Christmas. Santa will pass their homes. Their children will have to settle for left overs. While the Prime Minister boasts that he has millions upon million upon millions to engage in election bribery. Dear Prime Minister could you start the bribery now by giving the nation’s employees their salaries increase this December? Please. PEOPLE’S UNITED PARTY The People’s United Party must keep up the pressure on this unpopular government. Now that the six government flunkies, sorrow Senator, voted AGAINST holding a Senate inquiry into the Penner/ immigration scandal, the gloves must come off from the Opposition party. Boycott all committees, Board and Services Commission which the Opposition are required to be members. Keep in touch with the Unions, churches, Chamber of Commerce V.I.P. and all other social partners on ways to ensure our democracy cannot be stifled by the government. Plan for a general strike. Plan for civil disobedience.