They say there's nothing 3 lawyers can't agree on and today a trio of the best of them gathered for a rare private meeting. Hon. Said Musa, Hon. Dean Barrow and Hon. Eamon Courtenay held an unannounced closed door meeting this morning at the Prime Minister's divisional office in Belize City.
The session lasted an hour during which time, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Attorney General discussed the constitutional amendment that would eliminate the Privy Council and make the Caribbean Court of Justice Belize's final Court of appeal. That amendment is tabled for passage next week Friday at the House of Representatives but the government needs 22 votes to carry it meaning that it must get opposition support.
Sensing that it's finally got the house majority in a needy spot the opposition has introduced a stringent list of demands for government to meet before it lends the bill that rare bipartisan support. And while both parties have appointed committees to examine the list that process, it seems was moving too slowly and at this morning's meeting, the leaders cut to the chase.
What have they achieved? Well, officially, nothing is being said at this time. Attorney General Hon. Eamon Courtenay told us that they have established a good basis to move forward on, and he is confident that they can reach agreement by next Friday's house sitting. Opposition Leader Hon. Dean Barrow told us the same thing, except he wasn't so sure that things would be settled by next Friday. The difference is that Prime Minister Hon. Musa will take a proposal to the usually compliant cabinet next Tuesday.
But for Barrow it's not so easy. Next Wednesday he takes that same proposal to the National Party Council and the shadow cabinet where party hard-liners are expected to outright reject what they interpret as accomodationist concessions agreed to by Barrow. What are those concessions? Well neither Courtenay nor Barrow would discuss it. But sources tell us that the Prime Minister has agreed to give opposition representatives a community vote of two thousand dollars a month, that government will disclose what had up to now been secret contracts and that government will that the National Assembly must approve the sale of national assets worth more than a million dollars. In return Barrow has backed down off the UDP's demand that the government enact legislation to cap public debt.
Again, these conditions have not been released officially, but for government, it's critical that it wins approval in both parties to ensure that it is not embarrassed at Friday's house sitting.