So, what's the BNTU's reaction to the lawsuit filed by Leader of the Opposition yesterday? As we told you, He will take the Prime Minister to court to try to force him to bring the Constitutional Amendment into effect which allows for a 13th Senator to be appointed by the NGO community.
The Prime Minister's position for refusing to do it after 5 years is that it will cause legislative paralysis, which the Opposition condemns as an excuse which holds no weight. They say that the constitution provides an avenue to the Government majority to bypass the veto power of the Senate on money bills needed to run the country. They go even further to suggest that the Government is avoiding legitimate attempts at transparency.
The BNTU recently went on a country wide tour for the "Teachers Gat Yu Back" campaign on national issues. One of those issues is that 13th senator, so will the BNTU align itself with the Opposition in this lawsuit? Well, the President told us today that it is not so simple:
Luke Palacio, President, Belize National Teachers Union
"I cannot say definitively that teachers are pushing for the 13th senator. But I do know that in our "teachers got you back" rally and moto that we are pushing - we are pushing for national issues and yes the issue of the 13th senator is one that we are pushing for."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you support the Opposition Leader with his claim?"
Luke Palacio, President, Belize National Teachers Union
"It is not a matter of supporting the Opposition Leader in the claim. It is a matter that the law has been passed and we believe that it should be followed and carried through to which a 13th senator would be appointed."
Daniel Ortiz
"Is there some sort of issues where the union always has to distance itself from political matters?"
Luke Palacio, President, Belize National Teachers Union
"It is not a matter of the union distancing itself from political matters. We need to understand that in the union movement, membership is diverse. Membership comes from both political parties. Membership comes from different religious backgrounds. Membership comes from different cultural backgrounds and so you need to be careful how. We are saying, in terms of national issues, we are prepared to work towards achieving those ends and the dialogue on national issues must never be seen to cloud by partisan political actions. We are not going to engage ourselves, we are not going to aligned ourselves in that regard. If an issue is a national issue and the national sentiment is that this is how it should be, then fine. We need to get away from this matter. As a matter of fact the criticism right now of the unions is that you wonder whether they are UDP or PUP or in bed with government because of what happened in 2005. So, we want to ensure that we remained focused as the Belize National Teachers Union and I can also say as the National Trade Union Congress of Belize - these are some of the same national issues that we have been trying to get resolved."
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