We told you yesterday that the government has hired two top attorneys - Eamon Courtenay and Godfrey Smith - to defend them against the court action being brought by Belize Peace Movement. The BPM is taking GOB to the high court to try and force a re-districting before the next general elections. Many attorneys declined to represent the BPM until Sharon Pitts finally took on the challenge.
And while the government has said repeatedly that they believe the re-districting process needs to happen, they're not planning to get it done before the 2025 elections. In fact, even though the constituencies are totally out of line with the constitutional requirements, the PM called the BPM's case an "attack" on GOB.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We're not going after them, we're just defending ourselves. We did not go after them, they're coming after us as a government and we have to defend ourselves. This has been a long, drawn out process and we all recognize that it is something that has to be done. Unfortunately the report that was given to us and it has been tabled in the House, it's still in House Committee, it seems they can't come to an agreement and we can't force them to do whatever it is that needs to be done but we're waiting for that but at the same time we have to defend ourselves. In many instances we don't give it attention and by the time we put in the proper attention it's already too late so we want to ensure that we defend ourselves and to show to the Belizean people that we are trying as best as we can to follow the law. I must also remind you that the redistricting is not in the hands of the government, it's in the hands of the Elections and Boundaries Commission and they do their research, they do their list of recommendations and bring it to us and it's our responsibility to bring it to the house and we have done that."
