The social partners launched the Rod of Correction movement last week – presumably to lash government on a number of issues from Harmonyville to Penner to Danini Contreras. This afternoon in a three hour press conference – that went from 2:15 to 5:15 pm, the Prime Minister took on all their issues – and said he's happy they didn't get a crowd out on Saturday- but that's because they can't - not against his government:
Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister of Belize
"I found the rhetoric emerging from the interviews that the principals gave in particular, the President of the NTUCB, to be disrespectful, to be entirely confrontational, and to be - in a word - rude. But, let me make clear; it takes 2 to quarrel. I am not going to respond in kind. I do want to make clear though, that I see the rhetoric as out of all proportion to the issues raised. There is no doubt that a number of things have bubbled recently, and that there is a degree of disquiet on the part of several sectors of the society, pertaining to some of the issues raised. But, having conceded that, having granted that, I have to say that the position adopted, the effort made to suggest that the sky is falling down, is absolutely unsustainable when you look at the facts. I get the sense that the desire is to provoke the kind of crisis that we saw in - was it 2005? But the situation then was entirely different from the situation now. For one thing, I, as Prime Minister, am not in Belmopan cutting deals. I am not in Belmopan signing illegal guarantees. I am happy that on Saturday the rally that they had was - to put it factually - not especially successful. And, I am not happy so that I can poke fun at them, but because I think that it supports the Government's position that streets of certainly the City - and on a larger scale - the people of this country are not satisfied that things are the way the Rod of Correction is describing things. I make the point, of course, there are difficulties. Of course, there are shortcomings; of course, there are failures on the part of the Government. And, we are obliged to try to address those issues, but don't act as though this is some rogue outlaw government. Don't say, for example, that your numbers were not better than there were because of fear of victimization. My God man, everybody in this country has a rostrum - has a soap box. Everybody in this country goes to the media, and has his particular cause ventilated. I don't believe that the spark that the Rod of Correction was hoping for has been lit. I don't believe that there is any bonfire that will rage out of control. But ultimately, we will continue to do our best, and if at the end of the day the people of this country say, 'Your best hasn't been good enough. For whatever reasons, we want to be rid of you.' We will accept with good grace the democratic verdict of the people. But please, Mr. Rod of Correction, don't try to force-feed this process. Don't try to manufacture a fit that isn't there."
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