Day two of the budget debate

Said Musa

As we bring you the news tonight, the Budget Debate is still raging in the sacred chambers of the National Assembly in Belmopan. All members of parliament from both sides of the House are given the opportunity to speak on the draft estimates for the year 2014 – 2015. It’s important stuff, because it is really the only time that all parliamentarians will have any valid input on the allocations of money in every sector of the country. But most parliamentarians seemed to have little time for or interest in the actual budget, and on both days of debate, it was more about personalities, insults and some very long-winded monologues. So in the end, unfortunately, the highlights of the two days of debate are more for entertainment value than actual substance. But still, we’ve got some for you.

FOR VIDEO CLICK HERE.

Said Musa, Fort George Area Rep.

“The mighty Hercules Mister Speaker has become Humpty Dumpty on the wall. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men cannot put Humpty together again.”

Mark King, Lake I Area Rep.

Mark King

“Mister Speaker, you know, I think the member from Toledo East mentioned that the bus don’t want to go to Dolores. Well Mister Speaker, we can understand that because at the end of the day, the same Dolores can never be reached; that’s why Beverly Castillo will be dealing with her…especially when she has the audacity to boycott twenty thousand women in this country and gets up and speaks as if those she is ambassador for women. Let me tell you, the Honorable Prime Minister’s wife is the best ambassador that this country has ever had representing the women of this country. And I will not stand here as the minister of state in the women’s department and look at her belittle our women in this country Mister Speaker.”

John Saldivar

John Saldivar, Belmopan Area Rep.

“2013 saw a marked reduction in most major crimes. We finally saw the homicide count, the murder count fall to below one hundred.”

Said Musa

“There have been several cases of persons killed at the hands of the security forces. And we hear nothing more about it; no closure; all treated as justifiable homicide. And by the way member for Belmopan, it is not homo-cide, it’s homicide. Don Emilio was invited to this party and in the course of this party while they are shooting back the whiskeys and all that, Don Emilio turned to the governor and said, Governor, who is that ugly woman over there. And the governor turned to Don Emilio, oh Don Emilio; that is my wife. Don Emilio then said to the governor, oh governor she’s pretty now. Taiwan is pretty now.”

Michael Peyrefitte

Michael Peyrefitte, Speaker of the House

“If I were to stop everybody who spoke irrelevant material, nobody would be able to talk so far except for one member. Nobody so far has addressed these estimates—nobody except for one member. So if that is the rule that we want to implement… And we talk about disgracing each other; you look at how you disgrace yourselves every time?”