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PUP Wants Senate To Investigate Immigration
posted (October 2, 2013)
And while the PM is under pressure, the opposition is pushing the issue. As we already told you, the Leader of the Opposition today sent a letter to Penner demanding his resignation. And in the Senate today, PUP Senator Lisa Shoman spoke on the adjournment urging the creation of a special select committee to investigate the going's on at the Immigration Department. The Senator had no motion prepared but she asked for Government support:..

Senator Lisa Shoman
"Mr. President, the senators from the Opposition's side are making a call today - a public call an urgent call, for us to utilize our powers under the Senate to conduct an investigation and an inquiry into not only the issues surrounding the nationality certificate and issuance to Won Hong Kim, otherwise known in certain sections of the media as "Citizen Kim." That has to do with not only the passport that was issued but also the nationality certificate, the supporting documents, the file and everything surrounding and leading up to the issuance and delivery of a passport to this particular "Citizen Kim.""

"I think all of us as citizens need to know what happen, how it happen, who caused it to happen, who is responsible and most importantly of all we need the assurance that this will never occur again."

"We pass a raft of legislation today Mr. President, in order to satisfy the entire world that we do not condone or do we support illegal activity in Belize."

"Nothing less than the integrity of our nationality certificates and our passports is at stake. I join the call that is coming from the media, that is coming from citizens, that is coming from civil society, that is coming from the opposition for there to be a full and proper accounting of what occurred."

"We as a senate have a constitutional responsibility to call for such a inquiry to take place and to exercise our powers and functions under 61A of the constitution to make sure that such an inquiry takes place."

"I invite all my colleagues' senators to support and join with me in this call. I am hoping it is not necessary to lay a particular motion by one party in this house and I am hoping in fact and inviting the government to be the one to bring this motion to convoke the senate to exercise its powers."

Senator Godwin Hulse
"I was one of the first persons in the history of this country in this honorable senate to participate and in fact to chair a senate investigation into irregularities of the Social Security. Those investigations took 22 1/2 months to be completed and it took an enormous amount of my personal time and effort and money to say the least - personal expenses to see that through. Notwithstanding a report that was submitted - that report languish at the DPP until I think it has become statute and no action whatsoever has been taken on it."

"I want to publicly say here to callers who call in on the radio that there is intent to cover up - there is no intent to cover up anything wrong that has gone on in Immigration or any of the departments under my watch. Its not going to happen and that would apply if it was my mother, father, brother, sister, wife or anybody else. So, please, there is no intention to cover up."

Jules Vasquez
"Minister Hulse made a long declaratory statement but he didn't indicate if he will support you."

Senator Lisa Shoman
"I note that he didn't. Here is the thing Jules, that it is usually as you know the government that brings motions. There is provision for private members to bring motions, meaning members who are not of the government."

"What I am doing is to give the government a fair opportunity for them to invoke the senate powers and call for the senate to exercise its functions by investigating and inquiring into the circumstances having to do with the nationality and the passport of "Citizen Kim" and if the government will not do that then it will be incumbent on me and the opposition to do so."

"One of the things that is important to note is that this is not a partisan issue and that why I have frame it in the way that I have. All Belizeans agree that this is something urgent, that this is something important, that this is what citizens want to see happen. the opposition has the responsibility where the senate has powers to investigate this to call on the government either to initiate it or if will not then we intend to bring a motion before this honorable senate to ask for such an investigation and an inquiry."

Jules Vasquez
"Apparently your call went on deaf ears."

Senator Lisa Shoman
"I don't know that he said no. He said that he welcomes any investigation and I will hold him to that. I heard the Honorable to say that it is the proper function of anybody which is properly constituted to do it work. I heard that very clearly and among those he said the police, DPP and even the Senate. I will wait and I will ask my colleague whether he in fact intends to do this and if he does not then by a motion before the next senate meeting we are going to put it before the House to be debated and discuss."

"I believe that I will get the support from the social sector senators as well."

Jules Vasquez
"You've indicated in there that you will support any investigation. the senate should do it constitutional duty but will the government endorse such a motion if it is brought to the House?"

Senator Godwin Hulse
"We have to see the motion that brought. As I said I see from the Social Security that we took an inordinate amount of time to get it done and many years and nothing happen. I don't want that for this. This needs to be fix and fixed quick. This is why I say that there are many calls to many agencies including the senate. It depends upon what the institution decides. As far as I am concern I don't really think we need a senate investigation into this one. I think it is simple and straight forward, but if the senate has decide that they want an investigation, so be it."

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