Legislation to repeal and replace the Belize Constitution tabled

Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow says while he supports legislation promoting a new constitution or amending the existing Belize Constitution, he remains cautiously optimistic about what the bill seeks to do.

The government earlier this week, I tabled the People’s Constitution Commission Bill that will allow for a commission to draft and guide the process of promoting a new constitution for Belize or make amendments to the existing Constitution.

Education Minister Francis Fonseca told legislators that there is a need for educating on what the Constitution stands for as well as the options.

“This is a historic bill, a historic opportunity for us as a people. I think it provides a unique opportunity for us, for all Belizeans, to engage in this process and to have our voices heard. We say it a lot of times that we have people on social media who complain about different areas of governance, and that’s been the case for years and years,” Fonseca told legislators.

“Now we have an opportunity to engage in sharing your views on how you would like to see Belize better governed. All of us, as citizens of this country, should recognize this opportunity, embrace it, and take full advantage of it. Let us not squander our opportunity to make meaningful changes in the governance structures of our country.

“We now have an opportunity to look at the Constitution and the structures that underpin that constitution and make a fundamental change if that is what we desire to do,” the education minister said.

But while he expressed support for the initiative, Shyne Barrow told legislators the “goal is to protect rights and to expand rights so that we don’t find ourselves in a position where rights are being taken away because we live in a democracy.

He reminded Parliament that during the House Committee meetings, he had raised issues with the committee “and the Minister of Political Reform (Henry Charles Usher) was there, and I am satisfied, cautiously, that the committee will follow through in ensuring that there is as much inclusion as practical.”

The Constitution of Belize came into force on September 21, 1981, when the country gained its political independence from Britain.