PM Briceño Responds to Redistricting Challenge Before High Court

According to Prime Minister John Briceño, the ongoing redistricting matter before the High Court of Belize is not one of controversy.

Briceno told News Five that those challenging the redistricting efforts could have acted earlier if they were truly concerned. “If these people knew that that’s what they wanted to do, they could have done it a long time ago. I think they started to do this, I believe; you are just trying to get attention when they started to hear that we are going to call elections,” he stated.

The Prime Minister also outlined his position on the timing of the upcoming elections, noting that he had faced significant pressure to call them sooner. “I’ve been under a lot of pressure from last year to call elections, and I’ve been saying no, we’re not going to have elections until 2025,” he explained. “Last year in December, I met with my closest advisors, and we felt that March is a good month. Usually, it’s dry, it’s cool, and people are working. So we felt that that would be a good time to call the elections. And so that’s what we did.”

Briceño responded to attempts to block the elections, expressing his disappointment. “I think it’s unfortunate, but we have followed the law. And as Prime Minister, I have the right to call an election whenever I believe that it is the right time.”

Regarding the redistricting process, the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to addressing the issue. “I have committed before that one of the priorities of the new government, of the PUP government, when you get in, is to ensure that we could have the redistricting done successfully,” he said.

A legal injunction was filed to halt the upcoming general elections, arguing that the absence of constitutionally required redistricting violates the principle of equal representation. The claimants, including Jeremy Enriquez, contend that proceeding without redrawing electoral boundaries undermines democracy. While the government insists it has met its constitutional obligations with redistricting proposals, the challenge seeks to delay elections until the process is completed.

A decision is expected this week.