The Legislature and Nation Building in Belize  

The National Assembly is one of the most important features of the country’s governance system. It is the seat of the legislature, one of the three branches of government. The National Assembly is where laws are created in the interest of accountability and good governance. Belize’s legislative history runs deep, from Burnaby’s Code in the late seventeenth century, to the Legislative Assembly in the mid eighteenth century and now the National Assembly in the twenty-first century. But it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the residents of then British Honduras were afforded the right to elect representatives. Today, the National Assembly houses thirty-one elected members in the House of Representatives and thirteen members of the Senate. Their roles are just as important now as they were centuries ago. News Five’s Paul Lopez takes a closer look at the roles and responsibilities of the Legislature in this week’s installment of the Five Point Breakdown.

 

Point 1: (The Legislature)

The National Assembly of Belize was founded on December thirty-first, 1963. Before then, it was called the Legislative Assembly. The first general election was held in 1954 where nine of the fifteen members were elected. Before then, all members of the assembly were nominated. With the right to vote came the emergence of political parties.

 

Laura Tucker-Longsworth, Former Speaker of the House

“The House business is important, the proceedings in both the House and the Senate, because people do listen. What they are listening to hear is how their elected representatives are taking care of them as a people, how they are advancing those initiative and so people should take an active part. It is called participatory role in ensuring that their interest are taken care of by elected representatives, so whether it has to do with water, safety, whatever it is, business, their representatives should be representing their interest from their various constituencies in the House and Senate.”

 

Point 2: (The Speaker of the House)

The People’s United Party won the first general election. The members who were elected to the then Legislative Assembly include names like George Price, Phillip Goldson and Leigh Richardson, to name a few. The name changed to the National Assembly when British Honduras gained full self-governance and effected the constitution. One role that has remained constant through the transition is the seat of the Speaker. In Belize the Speaker’s role has been traditionally one of a referee.

 

Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House of Representative

“It is important because the business that is discussed here by the thirty-one members of Parliament in the House and the thirteen in the Senate, that is what impacts everyday life. They create legislation, they amend legislation, they debate on motions, on loan motions as well, as well as other forms of motions in terms of support for a foreign country program or an alliance with a foreign country. So, it does impact every day lives of Belizeans.”

 

Point 3: (The Legislature’s Importance to Belizeans)

The Assembly Building in Belmopan was inaugurated in 1970. Fifty-four years later, it is undergoing major renovations. Over the course of the next twelve months, parliamentary meetings will be held at the George Price Center for Peace and Development. At the 1970 inauguration, an ordinance was passed to change the name of the Colony of British Honduras to Belize.

 

Paul Lopez

“Why do you think most Belizeans lack interest in the business that takes place within the National Assembly?”

 

Valerie Woods

“Well, have you watched the House meetings? It is up to us, those in the leadership positions and those who are responsible for what goes at the legislature, it is up to us to make it appealing and to encourage our citizenry to pay attention and to be alert of what is happening at your legislature. It impacts them. It impacts all of us. We have to do a better job, the way we debate, language we use, the parliamentary decorum. But we also from the administrative side of the parliament, we have to do a better job in terms of reaching out to the public.”

 

Point 4 :(National Assembly Administrative Staff)

During National Assembly debates spectators get to see what happens inside the parliamentary chambers. But, behind the scenes there is a National Assembly Staff supervised by the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk, who is appointed by a National Assembly Committee.

 

Laura Tucker-Longsworth

“The work is not only what you see on TV with people going back and forth, something good, something bad, something we can do better with, but it is what is going on behind the scenes to make sure these meetings take place. But we have a more important role in ensuring that the National Assembly operates at a very high level, a professional level, so that when Bills come to the House, there are systems and committees in place to look at these bills to see if they are ready, to fact check and to be able to offer our legislatures the insights of other laws and bills.”

 

Point 5: (Encouraging Public Participation in The Legislature)

Essentially, the fabric of the Belizean identity has been woven together, in part, by what happens inside the National Assembly throughout the years. From the freedoms that are afforded to us, aid for the most vulnerable, essential infrastructural development, and the list goes on. But, how can greater public participation in the legislative process be encouraged?

 

Valerie Woods

“Every decision taken in the National Assembly of Belize, both the House of Representatives and in the upper house, the Senate, it is about people’s lives, about the direction of the country and ultimately will impact your life. They should pay attention. I readily admit, some of the language is not user friendly, it can get very legalize if I can use that term and some of the procedural can be a bit monotonous, I dare say boring.”

 

Laura Tucker-Longsworth

“We do not pay enough attention to our history, where we are coming from and our children, likewise, do not really know how important it is to know how bills are passed, how to lobby for their own environments. If they are going to school and the traffic is preventing them from walking across the street, do they know they have an area representative who can address those things. So, we as a society have to shoulder some of that responsibility. That is one of the reasons why people don’t pay attention. They go in there and people have already decided what they want to do and it is just a quarrel to show who is how. It is much more than that.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.