And last month, we told you that the Belize Chamber of Commerce had produced a draft campaign finance bill, which they hope will eventually be enacted into law. The bill's main purpose is to create transparency in the source of funding and the expenditure targets in political campaigns.
The money that fuels politics has long been shrouded in secrecy which allows corruption of both politician and electorate to flourish and fester.
And that's why preserving secrecy in campaign financing is important to the political status quo. But where does the PM stand on it? Today, press asked him:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We are prepared to look at anything that can work, because at the end of the day the chamber, many of them like to pontificate, but they don't walk the walk. I am prepared to take a look at what they have and if it is something that's applicable, we'd be happy to do so. Look at what happened in the United States, everybody like to talk about the United States being the bastian of democracy, look at how much money now it cost to elect a president - over a billion dollars. Look at the dark money that they have. You have these so-called NGOs they are in the United States that pumps billions. They pay hundreds of millions of dollars. For instance, just yesterday I watch on TV where the Coke brothers for the 2020 elections spent half a billion dollars in trying to get their candidate elected. Is that what we want? Obviously not. Don't you think I want to have an election that's going to cost us a lot less? Of course, we want to, but it has to be something that's applicable and that can work and not that we pass laws where they tie your hands and yet others can do as they wish. So once we could find something that's applicable to the Belize model, I'd be more than happy to accept any proposals, including the proposal from the UDP, the teachers or the NGOs. We want something that can work."
