The Prime Minister of Belize highlights some of the salient features of the recent reform process under the present government.
Mr Barrow was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Belize on 8 February 2008. A lawyer, he was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1984 general election and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development in the 1984-1989 United Democratic Party (UDP) administration.
Introduction
The United Democratic Party (UDP) was brought into power in the February 2008 general election on a platform of good governance, transparency and accountability.This was against the backdrop of perva- sive and institutionalized corruption that had plagued every level of the government during the previous 10 years. Hardly eight months into office, the new UDP government has put through a spate of legislative measures to fulfill its mandate to the electorate and to deepen democracy in Belize.
Freedom of information The UDP had promised in its elec-
tion manifesto to revamp the Freedom of Information Act to pro- vide for full disclosure of, and easy access to, government contracts, operations and projects.True to its mandate, an amendment to this Act, which came into force on 1 July 2008, prohibited and invalidated secrecy provisions in public con- tracts and criminalized unreasonable refusal or failure to provide access to public documents.This amendment also drastically reduced the cate- gories of “exempt documents” which had often been invoked to
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deny access to the public.These reforms will contribute in no small measure to openness and transparen- cy in the affairs of the government.
Allowing the general public to call for a referendum This was another manifesto com- mitment of the present government designed to further enhance the democratic process.An amendment to the Referendum Act, which came into force on 30 July 2008, provides for the general public to call for a referendum on any issue of public importance. If a petition is presented to the Governor-General signed by at least 10 per cent of the registered electors in Belize (or, if the referen- dum is to be held in any specific district or area of Belize, 25 per cent of the registered electors in that dis- trict or area) praying that in their opinion a certain issue or matter is of sufficient public importance that it should be submitted to the elec- tors for their views through a refer- endum, such a petition will set in motion the referendum process. The law further provides that the Governor-General shall refer the