It's not everyday that we get news of secret meetings between the opposition and government. But so it was today when we were told that both sides were meeting at the Central Bank. It turned out that the meeting wasn't secret, but closed door and ranking generals from both sides were gathered to discuss the proposed constitutional amendment, which would allow the Caribbean Court of Justice to become Belize's final Court of Appeal. In order to pass this amendment, the government needs a ¾ majority, which means it must have the support of at least one member of the opposition. Accomplishing that would qualify as a rare feat of bi-partisanship across the always divided house floor. And now the UDP wants to capitalize on the opportunity by forcing the Government's hand in other areas. So now the opposition is leveraging its power in the house, by submitting a list of demands to government and if the government side agrees, then the opposition will vote in favor of the constitutional amendment.
It's not exactly high statecraft, but it's great hardball politics and today both parties sent senior members to meet at the Central Bank in the search for common ground. We spoke to the UDP's John Saldivar after the meeting to find out what the UDP is demanding.
John Saldivar, UDP Cayo South Area Representative
"We are asked for some serious reforms that will help the people of Belize. One of the major issues we discussed this morning was putting some type of limit on the public debt; more or less to tell the government that you cannot borrow beyond a certain amount because certainly everyone agrees that the current public debt is at unsustainable levels; dangerous levels. We are asking for some sort of constitutional arrangement or limit to be placed on the Minister of Finance and his ability to continue to put the nation more and more in debt. A second one had to do with the Freedom of Information Act. We would like to see the basic principles of that act enshrined in the constitution so that it is more difficult to interfere with the freedoms given in that act. We also asked the government for full disclosure on a number of recently signed contracts. We believe that if the government is serious about good governance that these requests should not be difficult for them to meet."
Alfonso Noble,
Those are the only three issues you all asked for?
John Saldivar,
"We had a couple more issues including some parliamentary reform issues. For instance right now the eight opposition representatives are not being treated on the same level as the elected representatives of the government especially with regards to the community fund. The opposition members do not receive the monthly subvention or monthly constituency funds which other elected representatives receive and we are saying this is important if we as opposition members are to carry out our jobs properly. We need to be treated equally."
Alfonso Noble,
Is this statesmanship or outright extortion?
John Saldivar, UDP Cayo South Area Representative
"No. We believe that our politics has got to move to the level and our governance has got to move to the level where whenever any bills come to the table the government and opposition need to sit down and really deliberate on these issues and come to a consensus. This is a unique opportunity for the UDP as the opposition to, as it were, force the government to actually sit down and discuss these issues. So it is not a matter of extortion. It's a matter of what we think is good practice as legislatures."
With all those demands, it may be easier for the government side to independently try to persuade an agreeable opposition member to vote in favor, but Saldivar says all 8 members will stand unified bloc. The government side was represented in today's meeting by Acting Minister of Finance Hon. Jose Coye, Minister of Health Hon. Vildo Marin, and others.