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PUP VS House Debate On Petrocaribe: Should They have Left?
posted (June 29, 2015)
So, the PUP walked out of the House on Friday - the biggest day on the parliamentary calendar so far this year - and in so doing denied all of the public of the opportunity to witness a full debate on the Petrocaribe Loans Amendment Bill.

Well on Facebook we saw a PUP statement making their technical case for a walkout. Essentially, the release says that House Speaker Michael Peyrefitte treated Senator Patrick Andrews like a "stranger" in the gallery when he is a member of the House - and, because of that, cannot be treated like a stranger. That's under standing orders of the National Assembly number 87 - a little piece of trivia that no one - opposition included - seemed to be seized on at Friday's walkout. At the time, the opposition leader hinted at a conspiracy:

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"It almost seems that it was preordained. That it was a part of some plan. He singled out Senator Andrews."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Perhaps then Mister Andrews is collaborating with us. They better be careful. After Ivan and after Mister Mahmud and the allegations that they make. They better watch Mister Andrews very carefully but no man, on a very serious note Jules, Lord It wasn't even as though they as the speaker got into it because in terms of their interventions in the debate they thought the speaker was unfairly muzzling them. Man, you will use the fact that Andrews, who is not a participant in the particular proceedings inside the chamber, is being ejected to walk out? The member for Cayo South, I think was beside himself and so he's trying to vent his frustration in another way, but I believe he and other were absolutely upset that Fonseca pulled a stunt like that. He didn't even look to Said who was beside him or Johnny who was one person down when he said no, we'll walk out and I saw the others looking a little bit nonplussed. Once he got the others never had a choice, but they weren't pleased. So, I believe that there will be a little bit of hell to pay internally in the PUP later this evening if it hasn't already happen, because there were those who were there who wanted to put forward their position and deserve to be heard not only in terms of their own people, but in terms of the nation. I'm saying I want a debate. I want a robust debate. I'm telling you, my words, hopeless, hapless and helpless. That's the leader of the opposition."

The PUP statement says the government is acting recklessly and tyrannically. Not content with those comments made outside the House, the Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader Julius Espat called a press conference to explain exactly what standing orders of the House the Speaker supposedly violated. Both leaders explained:

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"The standing orders and it is very important for the Belizean people to understand these things. The standing orders of the House make it very clear that the Speaker can only summarily order the withdrawal of a stranger from the precincts of the National Assembly under Standing Order 87. The removal of a member of the National Assembly cannot be carried out in the same manner as the removal of a stranger and cannot be done summarily. So, the legislative assembly, the Powers and Privileges Act makes clear that a stranger is any person other than a member or officer of the National Assembly. So, Senator Patrick Andrews is not a stranger. He is a member of the National Assembly."

"The Speaker of the House therefore have no authority to order the summary removal of Senator Andrews from the House precincts. In so doing, the Speaker acting in response to Hon. Michael Finnegan, has shown once again, his disregard for his role as speaker and of the rules which governs the National Assembly."

So, since the PUP got another bite at the cherry, we had to offer one to the Prime Minister also. He was at a Petrocaribe event this morning, and he told us that the PUP are mistaken.

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Absolute nonsense. Complete nonsense. The Speaker is in charge of the House and is authorized to eject any person in the House including those that are members of the House. Andrews, the fact that he is a senator was neither here nor there. He was a stranger in the gallery. He was not in parliament or in the House by invitation of the House. He was there as a stranger in the gallery and like all strangers, he is subject to the rules of the House and to the Speaker's authority. So, that is complete nonsense."

So, since the PUP gave up their opportunity to debate the amendments to the Petrocaribe Loans Act, they took the opportunity today to make their point to the press:

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"The Petrocaribe Loans Act and the amendment act passed last Friday are insults to the Belizean people. These laws are not worth the paper they are written on. In every corner of this country the call has been loud and clear "the Petrocaribe loans act must be repealed, not amended.""

Hon. Julius Espat. Deputy Leader - PUP
"The first thing that happen is that the Prime Minister and the government of Belize borrowed money unlawfully. They didn't come to the House of Representatives to seek permission to borrow the money. That's number one. Number two: They spent the money unlawfully, because you also have to go to the House of Representatives to ask permission to spend the money and by doing so, they boycotted what is called oversight. The boycotted the concept of accountability, because they were spending this money for two and a half years in the darkness of night. Nobody knew about it and they really wanted it to stay that way. And in the process of not doing these things lawfully, they were also shutting down and another term that can be use is they were "censoring" every aspect of oversight that exists within our laws."

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"That call as you also know has come from other organizations such as the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. That call was also come from the Belize Council of Churches and it has come from the umbrella environmental organization APAMO. The Petrocaribe loans act and the amendment act which was passes on Friday are an insult to all of these organizations and those they represent. At our party's request, a team of legal advisors headed by Senior Counsel Andrew Marshalleck has examine this very important issue of the Petrocaribe loans act and have come up with a draft Petrocaribe Revenue Management Fund bill 2015."

Not surprisingly, they aren't going to convince the Prime Minister any time soon that his government's decision to amend the law instead of repealing it is not the best option being taken. He told us today that their points are especially weakened by the fact that they walked out of the House on Friday for a reason not particularly valid, in his opinion. He reiterated that point today:

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Farcical. That's why they were there on Friday. I believed the entire nation - the attention of the entire nation was riveted on the house, because everybody expected that this would be a full on charge on the part of the opposition. This campaign that they've been waiting against Petrocaribe. This was the day on which to offer their alternatives or on which to as it were bring together all the criticism that they have of the program and of the legislation. Apart from the special nature of Friday's house meeting, there is a duty that as an opposition you owe it to the democracy, you owe it to your followers, you owe it to the people of the country and their walkout constituted a dereliction of that duty. It is not as though they had a problem with the speaker in the course of their interventions. One might perhaps have been able to understand that. If they were saying things that the speaker thought ought not to be said and they in turn felt the speaker was muzzling them, that might have been understandable to use what happens in terms of Jason Andrews being in the gallery as a stranger to stage a walkout and leave the Belizean public hanging, I think is unforgivable."

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