Briceño and Dennison Clash Over Affordability

Prime Minister John Briceño challenged Union Senator Glenfield Dennison to get out into communities and hear directly from Belizeans. Tonight, Dennison is firing back. The exchange began after the senator argued that politicians and public officers who enjoy perks such as fuel allowances cannot fully understand the cost-of-living crisis squeezing ordinary families. The Prime Minister rejected that criticism and pointed to his own work on the ground. But Dennison says Briceño’s response appeared emotionally charged. He also maintains that when politicians lose touch with the people, voters eventually show them the door.

 

Glenfield Dennison, Union Senator

“Perhaps the prime minister may have misunderstood how personal it was to me when I said he can’t relate to the cost of living. It is me I was talking about. So, I don’t think he can tell me that I can’t relate to myself. Now, I don’t think my story is singular, because I nuh just the talk about minimum wage. I am speaking about other young people like myself who have taken the same path, who are now being forced into the economy we have to budget and decide between whether your quality of life you want will have to be sacrificed just for basic needs. And I really believe that the cost of transportation is so high. if you take out a mortgage or rent, the next biggest expense is not groceries, it is transportation or it is very close for most people, it is very close. And I will say the point prime minister and I can agree on is, if the politicians are out of touch with their people they will vote them out and I will add that I personally feel that is the reasons incumbents are surprised when they lose elections, because the circle of people around them are not giving them the sort of base that rooted them when they ascended.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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