- Opposition Leader could be forced to resign parliamentary seat
The lawyer representing Opposition Leader, Shyne Barrow, says his client could be forced to resign his seat in the House of Representatives if he is found guilty of an electoral offence.
The Chief Magistrate is expected to hand down her ruling on November 24 in the case in which the ruling People’s United Party (PUP) is challenging Barrow’s voter registration in the Mesopotamia Division.
Attorney Richard Bradley says Section 58 of the Belize Constitution disqualifies anyone from membership in the Parliament if convicted of an offense related to elections.
Bradley argues that his client followed all legal requirements to be registered at the residence and has witnesses to confirm that he lives there.
But the PUP, through attorney, Leeroy Banner argues that Barrow does not and did not ever reside at the place and that the address that Barrow gave as his residence is actually his political office and resource centre. But Bradley said the PUP has no case.
“The elections laws of the country and the Constitution of Belize lays down what would disqualify a person either from entering the nation’s Parliament which is referred to under law as the National Assembly or if you are already a member and if you are found to be in violation of any election law, election offence, that person will have to resign,” he said.
He recalled that one of the witnesses had stated in court that the practice by Barrow has been done before and that former prime minister George Price was registered in his constituency even though he had been living “until his dying day” in another area.
He said the case originally came up for objection when the rolls for transfer was being revised. “The objectors did not show. The chief magistrate waited for them for hours, they did not show. Now that the overall list is being revised, they have turned back up in an attempt to basically to psych out the Leader of the Opposition and to put him to some level of embarrassment because what they say has nothing to do with what the law requires,” Bradley said.
“The law is, did he reside at that address for a minimum of two months prior to July? That is what this issue is all about. There is nothing in the law to say. I can’t sleep somewhere else. I can’t spend the night with my sweetheart.
“Just as an example. I’m not saying that is what happened. I can’t go and spend some time with my wife somewhere else. I said to the Chief Honorable Chief Magistrate, after a person is added on the electoral roll, they can get up and go to United States of America.
“There’s no law that says you have to hang around. You must be there. The issue is, was he resident there? Can he still be resident there if he wanted to sleep there overnight? Can he do so? And the answer is a resounding yes,” Bradley added.
