Turning now to the Senate, which is still going strong after an extended 9 hours of continuous debate, the parliamentarians of the Upper House are currently in a heated debate about a number of important bills brought forward from the House of Representatives.
But, possibly the most important one of the pieces of draft legislation out of the bunch is the launching of the Blue Bond, which will replace the Superbond. As we told you, 87% of Belize's bondholders have agreed to the buyout, which satisfied the "super-majority" consent, and now allows the Briceno Administration to move toward a final settlement with these bondholders for an agreed-upon redemption price.
Last night you heard how the 2 mass parties were claiming victory on the soon-to-be-retired Superbond. Well, in the Senate, the lead representatives of the two parties did very much the same. We start first with the comments made by Eamon Courtenay, the Leader of Government Business:
Here now is an excerpt of UDP Senator Michael Peyrefitte, who insisted that the former Barrow Administration laid the foundation for this restructuring of this public debt, followed by Courtenay's response to that:
