And while the house business involved some serious statecraft - Orange Walk East Area Representative Marcel Cardona provided an incredibly entertaining diversion: he came to the House in a hard hat! Just like the one construction workers use.
You'll recall that he was stoned with a wallet when he left the last house meeting - and so today he came with protection - even as the Speaker tried to assure him it wouldn't happen again:….
Hon. Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
"I state now that I do not condone and I do not accept that behavior and in fact it was the limit of my tolerance with visitors in the galleries."
Hon. Micheal Finnegan
"How can you allow a member of parliament wearing a cap or helmet in the House? That is disrespect to this House."
Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
"Honorable member, I take your point. Member for Orange Walk East, I understand the gesture but subject to what I have said, I assure you that incidents will not occur like that. I have spoken to the police and it ought not to be worn, Honorable Member."
Hon. Marcel Cardona
"I humbly request your permission to say a few words in reply."
Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
"Please go ahead."
Hon. Marcel Cardona
"I would like to say firstly that it is with tremendous dismay that I had to endure what took place at the last meeting at the House of Representatives. The disrespect was not only to myself but to the entire honorable House of Representatives. For the first time in history, a member of parliament has been not only assaulted in Belize but has been assaulted within the sacred precincts of this honorable House of Representatives. That was not an isolated case Mr. Speaker, that was a case whereby those that were responsible for those supporters coming up here and making all that noise - carrying on themselves as absolute hooligans and trying to intimidate the voices of opposition - that sort of behavior. Mr. Speaker I would humbly urge not only you but all members of parliament to be cognizant of the fact that when you start things, sometimes it is difficult to stop it - to put an end to it. If members of parliament are now to be threatened with physical violence from those members of the gallery who disagree with the views of members of parliament. Where is this country going to?"
Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
"Honorable member I will do whatever I can do prevent that from occurring again. Accordingly, you need not wear that hat."
Hon. Marcel Cardona
"Ok very well I will comply with Mr. Speaker in this regard, but let it be known that what took place on the last occasion was not only something that required you to have evicted the person or have sanctioned the individual with being deprived from attending two House Meetings - but the individual committed a criminal offence. Immediately thereupon it was the responsibility of the members of the police force to have detained the individual since he committed a criminal offence in plain view."
Hon. Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
"Honorable member, as an attorney you know that one must file a complaint and I don't know if you have done that or not. And as I mentioned prior to this sitting, we can discuss it after the meeting."
Hon. Marcel Cardona
"Very well, thank you."
And while and while he put the hard hat down with some visible self satisfaction, Cardona put it back on to leave the House Meeting and even had an exchange with his former UDP colleague Anthony Boots Martinez. Cardona told Boots that he could get a hardhat for him too.
