Will Belizeans In The Diaspora Ever Be Able To Vote?

With the ongoing elections in El Salvador, Belize has set up a polling station to accommodate Salvadorans living outside of their home country. With this in mind, the question was raised as to whether or not Belizeans living abroad will ever be afforded the same right. Here’s what Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca had to say on the matter.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“I think that was something the government of Salvador, obviously, they have legal authority to have Salvadorans who live outside of their country vote. That’s established by law in Salvador and So when that request came to Belize we were obliged to, to support and help them to carry that out. We have not reached that point in Belize. I think it’s a good issue for discussion whether we want Belizeans in the diaspora to participate in elections. I think now that we’re going through the process of reviewing the constitution, the PCC process, I think that’s an ideal opportunity for us to discuss an issue like this one. I think it’s definitely something worth worthy of debate, worthy of discussion. And at the end of the day, I think it’s something we can look at but we’re not there yet in the case of Salvador, they already have that as a part of their law.  We are not at that point yet. So as I said, I think the PCC represents an opportunity for us to have that in discussion and perhaps coming out of this PCC process. That is something that Belize may want to do.  But let’s see what comes out of the process.”