Panton Says Removal from House Committees is An “Attack on  Democracy”

Tracy Taegar-Panton, the Area Representative for the Albert Division, also shared her thoughts following today’s debate. Panton was recently removed as chair of the Joint Public Accounts Committee, a body formed in 2021 to oversee public spending. The committee includes members from both the upper and lower houses. Panton describes the removal as an attack on democracy.

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton, Area Representative, Albert

“It is an attack on democracy. It is a travesty and a black eye delivered by one man. I said in my presentation that we are elected to sit in the house to be a voice for the voiceless and when you remove a part of the socioeconomic framework that includes coming up with laws and making decision in the interest of the Belizean people, you know what happens in effect, you silence the Belizean people who don’t have a voice. There is no place for a dictatorship in a democracy and what we witnessed moments ago is a clear indication of dictatorship if we allow this to prevail. The records are here at the national assembly and I urge you to ask for it. I have had fourteen meetings of JPAC, more than any administration has ever held on both sides of the political divide. We have had three public hearings and I have had to be present at all meetings. I don’t take my role as a representative frivolously. As I said the records are here at the National Assembly. The only time I have had to absence myself is when I was incapacitated because I had to take a surgery.”