We turn from the demarcation of boundaries in Maya Communal Lands to the redistricting of the country's electoral divisions.
It's been exactly 7 weeks since we last reported on the latest in the redistricting lawsuit that the the Belize PEACE Movement has brought against the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
As we told you, the PEACE Movement insists that for many years, there has been a lack of political will to correct an imbalance in the country's democracy, where some constituencies are too big, and some are too small to truly represent an equal value of each registered voter. The Briceno Government have insisted that this lawsuit is no longer needed because the Commission has already in the process of fixing this imbalance.
Well, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize sent out a press release today declaring support for the PEACE Movement and their case.
Their statement says, quote, "The... (NTUCB) is in full support of the.. BPM) efforts to encourage and force… (GOB) to implement the fair representation principles of the Belize Constitution. The principle of fair representation has been eroding since 1984 and now, this issue is front and center of our democracy and the GOB has an obligation to address this issue… it seems that the GOB is not interested in addressing this major problem of the erosion of our democracy." End quote.
In a press release this evening, the Elections and Boundaries Commission was quick to correct that perspective that they aren't doing enough to fix the unequal sizes of the electoral divisions.
The press release notes that a task force has already been appointed to "set the groundwork, advise, and provide a detailed report with recommendations to the Commission on the redivision of electoral boundaries." Interestingly, the Commission's press release asserts that this Taskforce held its inaugural meeting today…
The members are Chief Elections Officers Josephine Tamai, who is the chair; Crown Counsel Paul Hender from the Attorney General's Ministry; Shirley Humes, a Principal Planner at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Petroleum and Mining; Alfredo Cal, a Senior Lands Officers at that same ministry; and Martin Aldana, a Statistical Analyst from the Private Sector.
They have an extensive, 15-point, Terms of Reference on how they will roll out the entire redistricting process.
Once the task force completes its work, it will make proposals to the National Assembly for boundary redistricting.
The press release from the Elections and Boundaries Commission concludes by saying, quote, "The public is hereby assured that the Commission has placed [a] high priority on this most critical exercise which is expected to be concluded in the year 2023." End quote.
