Senator Bradley Asks Why 11th Amendment is Being proposed

Senator Darrell Bradley has come out in opposition to the proposed Eleventh Amendment to the Belize Constitution. Late this evening, he issued a statement saying the Amendment seeks to introduce an entirely new and discriminatory disqualification for membership to the House of Representatives. Senator Bradley points out that currently, section eight disqualifies any person who “is under a sentence of death imposed on him by a court in any part of the Commonwealth or who is serving a sentence of imprisonment…”but that there is no prohibition in the Constitution, as it currently reads, that disqualifies anyone who has previously been convicted of any offence anywhere in the world and who has served out his or her sentence. He says this would be a serious change that seeks to punish, once again, someone who has already paid his or her debt to society. He also questions why this amendment is now being proposed because it did not emanate he says from any civil society group, from the churches or business community or from any other sector of society.