Over the course of the last few sittings of the House of Representatives and the Senate, we've been telling you all about the different pieces of draft legislation that the Briceno Government is seeking to pass into law.
Some are legislative reforms for good governance such as the Protected Disclosures Bill. Others are for judicial reform, such as the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Bill. Still, there are others that sparked controversies, such as the 10% public wage cut which was implemented via the Public Sector Emoluments and Allowances Reduction Bill.
This week, the national focus is being placed on the Belize Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill of 2021. In this piece of draft legislation, the current government wants to enshrine a requirement that each member of the Belize Advisory Council, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the Public Services Commission, and the Security Services Commission must vacate their post, quote, "at the next dissolution of the National Assembly after his [or her] appointment." End quote.
These constitutional bodies are supposed to remain independent to perform the critical oversight role for which they exist. But, the Briceno Administration thinks that the entire government, including these posts, should be wiped clean for a fresh start, whenever there is a change after a major election. You'll remember the public fight that the new government had with the former Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, and the former members of the Public Service Commission, because they refused to resign.
This draft Bill to make resignation a requirement is currently before the House's Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee. At this time, the Committee has invited citizens to share their views and opinions on it. One prominent Belizean thinks that this bill is a regression in good governance and an erosion of democracy.
He's Dylan Vernon, Belize's Former Ambassador to the European Union, and last Tuesday, he wrote a 6-page letter outlining what he thinks are flaws in the current version.
In his letter, Vernon says, quote, "It is... indisputable that appointments to constitutionally enshrined bodies and posts are, for good reason, not designed to coincide with general elections.
The practice of resignations by appointees from most appointed bodies (as well as resignations by most non-career appointees) has indeed expanded gradually over the four decades since independence…
The prime minister is correct in observing that the practice has become a political tradition - even if it is not a fully established one. But there is a critically important caveat that also must be acknowledged: not every political tradition makes for good governance and not every practice should be formally embraced just because it is becoming a tradition," end quote
Vernon goes on to point out the problems that could occur if this amendment is passed into law.
This afternoon, 7News got an opportunity to speak via Zoom video call with the former ambassador about his views on the 10th Amendment Bill:
Dylan Vernon - Former Belizean Ambassador
"I must preface my comments by saying this. In my letter, I did introduce it by saying that I actually commend the new government what is a very agenda on good governance so far. In this otherwise commendable start, this 10th amendment bill seems to be a blip. This bill needs a comprehensive rethink."
Reporter
"You called it an unfortunate departure from an otherwise commendable start."
Dylan Vernon
"Yes, indeed, and the reason why I think so, and I think it's important for people to understand what the bill seeks to do. [It] is basically to ensure that members of 4 bodies, the Belize Advisory Council, the Public Services Commission, the Security Services Commission, and the Elections and boundaries Commission, that members of all these bodies would vacate their offices at the same time that the National Assembly is dissolved. So, in effect, it is just before a general election. So, it's tying departure to general elections."
"What to do about a problem that has been developing since Independence, and the problem is basically that political parties that are in power do more and more to laws and to the constitution to ensure that they can appoint as many people as possible to as many bodies as possible when they win an election. It's a normal political reality that political parties want to do this, and I'm not naive enough to think that that is something surprising. But, the extent to which it has happened since Independence is becoming alarming, at least to me, especially now, when it is targeting what are bodies that were originally intended and enshrined in the constitution to be independent and impartial, especially from political parties."
"In my view, I'm not in my personal capacity, convinced that this bill is good for good governance. I think there should be a comprehensive rethink of how we approach the membership, the appointment, the tenure, the integrity of the members in the operation of these bodies and other bodies, in a more comprehensive way. And in fixing what the problem is, or the symptom of the problem is that one government might stack all these bodies with their own people from a particular party."
"And so, my recommendation is to shelf it, put on the shelf, for a little while this bill, go back to the drawing board in a more comprehensive way, and come back with a formula that fixes the original problem, not only a symptom of the problem."
