And keeping it on politics, we've been getting very divergent views on how valid or lawful these elections will be, since it has been established, without dispute that the 31 electoral divisions are not equivalent in sizes.
The citizens group, the Belize Peace Movement, continues to insist that these elections are not fair because the balance of democratic power is slanted too far in the favor of 10 electoral divisions of Belize City. They say that because the Elections and Boundaries Commission has failed to redistrict, the voters in all the divisions outside of Belize City are being shorted. Their view is supported by the independent expert in their court case. That expert has found that if you compare Fort George with Stann Creek West, quote, "the vote of an elector in Fort George count's five times as much in the House of Representatives as the vote of an elector in Stann Creek West." End quote.
We have since asked 2 PUP attorneys about this issue, and tonight, we have the comments of the schools of thought for you to decide:
Roberto "Bobby" Lopez - Chairman, BPM "An Election may take place. I don't know that will pan out, but what we're saying is that using the current voter's list makes that election coming up unconstitutional. It was unconstitutional in 1988 when the leader of the then PUP and the Prime Minister of Belize recognized malapportionment that was in violation of the constitution, and they admitted that an election could not be held under those terms. The constitution was amended as a part of the second amendment to our constitution. What difference is it in 2020, that the same malapportionment and worse exists?"
Kareem Musa - Attorney/PUP Standard Bearer "Nobody is saying that there should not be a redistricting exercise."
Reporter "No, no, I know that we need it, but I'm asking, does it make it any less democratic, in your opinion?"
Kareem Musa "To have elections, it's not how the constitution envisioned it if that's what you're asking because, as the constitution says, you have to try, as best as possible, to have seats with similar numbers. And clearly, that is not the case today. We don't have seats with similar numbers, but that does not make an election not fair, or not free. These individuals, who are registered, regardless of where they're registered, will get to vote in the election. So, for instance, if somebody is in Stann Creek, they get to vote. Somebody in Caribbean Shores gets to vote. It's a free and fair election."
The Peace Movement has also alerted the court that back in 1988, this same redistricting issue confronted the then Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Manuel Esquivel, and then parliamentary Opposition Leader, Florencio Marin Sr. They say these men, who they now hold in even higher regard, did the responsible thing and amended the Belize constitution to include the requirement that redistricting must take place to keep the electoral division approximately equal.
Chairman Bobby Lopez says that today's politicians are "power-hungry" and that they are quote, "willing to violate the constitution to win an election" End quote.
