And while Saldivar waits for that NPC meeting to decide his fate, his opponent in the Belmopan Constituency says that democracy is in danger since the UDP is D-E-A-D.
Area rep Oscar Mira explained that Saldivar's designation wasn't generated from hearsay, and that they must have had sufficient evidence against him. Still, he added that this should be a warning to all politicians to stay on the straight and narrow, and he even advocated for laws that would ensure transparency in regards to campaign financing.
We spoke to him today.
Oscar Mira, Area Rep, Belmopan
"It's sad what is happening to the United Democratic Party, I think that for us to have a good democracy in Belize, we need to have a viable opposition and at this point in time, the opposition is no where to be found. They are as Jules always mentioned, they're dead, they born dead. So it is indeed sad what is happening, I think we need, and we are proud of having a good democracy in the country of Belize but for that to happen, we need to have a viable opposition."
"With the Saldivar designation, it is his doing, you cannot blame anybody else but yourself and I think its for us politicians to learn and to ensure that whatever happened to him and whatever he did, that we are above reproach, we put ourselves to the electorate, they have that confidence in us, and we should be honest enough to ensure that we represent them well. Represent them with honesty, represent them with integrity, it is not an easy job, we all acknowledge it's not easy, and it's not cheap, it is a very expensive job that we put ourselves to, but as we put ourselves in service of our people, we must do so with integrity. The United States designation is something I believe they have done, not because they have heresy evidence, but I am sure they know why and they have the evidence to make such a proclamation. it doesn't happen often so I am sure they know what they're doing."
"We cannot use dirty money and believe that if we put it to a good cause that it is okay and it becomes now good money. No, money laundering is money laundering, it doesn't matter if you put it to good use, and we as politicians, we need to understand that."
"As a government I think it is time that we start looking at way at how, or put laws in place to ensure that wherever we get our contributions from, that it is declared, that it is making sure that politicians are held accountable to whatever money they spend, I am all for that."
