Right now, the Government and the officials at the Elections and Boundaries Department are putting together the final logistics in preparation for the big voters re-registration exercise that will start on July first.
It's been over 2 decades since the last re-registration, and the Opposition, PUP says that they don't want to take any chances that fraud could be introduced into this new voters list.
That's why Opposition Leader John Briceno has written to the Prime Minister asking him to invite OAS observers to watch over the process.
In a letter dated, May 30, 2018, Briceno writes, quote, "In keeping with our commitment to ensure that this process be managed in the most transparent way possible, the People's United Party believes that an observer mission from the Organization of American States is essential to achieving that objective. The OAS sent an important observer mission in 1997, when the last re-registration exercise was undertaken. The People's United Party therefore suggests that your Government invites the OAS to send an observer mission to observe the registration process in the months of July to November." End quote.
This afternoon, the Opposition Leader hosted a press conference to discuss a number of important issues, and here's what he had to say about that letter to the Prime Minister:
Hon. John Briceno, PUP Party Leader
"Need I remind you that the OAS who was here in Belize for the first re-registration back in 1997 and we are once again inviting them to come as observers, because we have our issues of grave concern. First of all the Elections and Boundaries offices are operating without a board. None of the commissioners have been appointed. We have been calling the attention. We have written letters to the prime minister as to when these commissioners are going to be named. We are very concern that we believe that the Election and Boundaries offices are being run by the political directorate. Because there is no board. Our commissioners have not been sworn in as yet. So that is of grave concern."
"We also have some grave concerns of some of the decisions that the Election and Boundaries - the officers have made. For instance, under the law, doing re-registration they need to go to every single village to make the process easier for Belizeans to get re-registered and we have been informed that they are not going to do that. That they are only going to certain villages and then everybody else have to come to their villages and they are siting budgetary concerns, but we can never spend too much money when it comes to protecting the democracy of Belize and the integrity of that voters list."
"The other concern that we have is that they are saying that they will not do monthly revisions. They are looking at probably doing the first revision, I think it is in November and by then we are going to have thousands of names that we will have to be revisiting and we believe that it creates an opportunity for mischief and that is why we believe - we have written to the prime minister and we are in the process of writing [OAS] Secretary General Almagro personally, giving him a copy of the letter that we sent to the prime minister."
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