And Barrow also wrote a letter to the prime minister about the recent appointments of two more judges to the high court. Both judges are non-Belizean, which the Leader of the Opposition points out. He is concerned that the Briceno administration has staffed the upper judiciary with "foreigners" and today said it was un-nationalistic of the PM. In a press briefing today, he emphasized the issue of former acting CJ Michelle Arana, as well as the recent judiciary protests.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"It's very alarming the direction of the Briceno Administration has gone in since taking office, a very anti-nationalistic approach, very discriminatory approach, starting with former Chief Justice Arana, who was acting, and while I have nothing negative to say about Chief Justice Blenman, I can never sit here and say to you honestly that Chief Justice Blenman is more suited, is more qualified than former Chief Justice Arana. So what is their vision for Belize? What is that plan to empower and uplift Belizeans, what is our national pride? If I was prime minister, my government and I would have found no greater joy that appointing our first indigenous chief justice and so that is the direction we should be going in but then you look at, again in the Magistrate level, when the Chief Justice retire, rather than put someone such as Tricia Pitts, who was acting, again, there is a pattern, an alarming pattern that Belizeans are only good enough to be placeholders, according to the Briceno doctrine, but we are not good enough to actually fill the permissions permanently. And that is why you had the sickouts, you had the protests in the courts recently, because the pay is inadequate while the foreigners they come in and they get an exponentially increased pay scale and you look at the recent appointees of justices to the high court, I know for a fact that at least three Belizeans applied in the recent cycle and the justices that have been recently appointed, many of them do not have any experience on the bench, whereas at least two of the three legal professionals that applied in the recent cycle are currently on the bench or have bench experience. So again, why not? What is wrong with our people?"
