Louis Wade Jr. Comes Out Swinging at Dissenting PCC Commissioners

Earlier this week, we reported that eight former commissioners of the People’s Constitution Commission voiced strong objections to the final draft of the P.C.C. report submitted to Prime Minister John Briceño. But tonight, a new voice is entering the conversation, and he’s pushing back. Former commissioner and current Church Senator Louis Wade Junior is challenging the narrative put forward by his former colleagues. In an exclusive interview this afternoon, Wade described their claims as a “misrepresentation” of what actually took place during P.C.C. meetings. Wade emphasized that none of the eight dissenting commissioners were part of the Thematic Chair Committee, the group responsible for shaping key sections of the report. As such, he argues, they lack firsthand knowledge of the discussions and decisions made within those sessions. He also revealed that the P.C.C. chairman and deputy chairs are currently unable to speak publicly, pending the creation of a formal mechanism that would allow them to share their perspectives. Until then, Wade says he’s stepping up to clarify the record and represent the church’s position.

 

Louis Wade Jr., Former Commissioner, P.C.C.

“It is very interesting that this is the frame that the former commissioners chose to put forward this attack at what I consider to be an attack on the report itself and against the chairman who in our opinion, the vast majority of commissioners, have done an excellent job at being able to put twenty-one different organizations, twenty-one different backgrounds together, and with limited funding, because we needed about seven million dollars, we received about one to two million, yet within the two year period a lot of work was done to bring to the fore what the wishes of the mases of Belizeans wanted as it relates to the constitution. Now to have an attack from within that seeks to give the impression that millions of dollars were wasted and two years were wasted because some commissioners were disgruntled, it is an unfortunate situation that I cannot remain silent about.”