Jerry Enriquez Pressures Elections Commission on Redistricting Delays

Questions about fairness at the ballot box are taking center stage tonight. Activist Jeremy Enriquez is demanding answers, filing a Freedom of Information request to find out what’s causing delays in redrawing Belize’s electoral boundaries. With some constituencies carrying far more voters than others, and repeated promises to fix it slipping from 2025 into 2026, his move is turning up the pressure on the Elections and Boundaries Commission to show its hand.

 

Jerry Enriquez, Social Activist

“The request follows repeated promises made by the prime minister that the redivision of the boundaries for various electoral divisions will be done by the end of 2025, if not by the end of 2026. And so far, we have not heard about the progress of the redistricting exercise. So I am very concerned that we are midpoint 2026 and we have not seen any movement with public consultation, public awareness and we have been down this road before where promises were made at the beginning of the 2020 term and we had to wait all the way before the end of that term of office when the redistricting was not done. And therefore, we cannot go down that road again. We are asking the Elections and Boundaries Commission to update us about the process for this redistricting, the timeline, detailed statements outlining these steps, who are the consultants being used, what professional advice are they getting, what reports and analysis are underway. We need full disclosure. The EBC needs to be transparent with the public. No more just we allow this secrecy with which this government tends to operate.”

 

Enriquez is now calling for full disclosure from the Commission, insisting that transparency and public accountability must guide the redistricting process moving forward.

 

Jerry Enriquez Backs Swaso’s Claim of Government Retaliation

 

A legal showdown is brewing over what one former public watchdog calls political payback. Retired Major and former Ombudsman Gilbert Swaso is taking the Government of Belize to court after his contract was not renewed in late 2025, and now, activist Jeremy Enriquez is throwing his full support behind the claim. Swaso argues he was targeted for intervening in a Freedom of Information dispute involving government’s legal fees, while Enriquez says the case is about more than one man, it’s about accountability and justice.

 

Jerry Enriquez, Social Activist

“I am proud that the Ombudsman is fighting for justice on his behalf and he is taking the matter to court. The issue must be ventilated and justice must be done. I was not surprised in anyway and while I will not attribute the non-renewal of his contract fully to my FOIA request, I know it has some kind of influence on that and I have seen it through other FOIA request where I am denied information that is rightfully for the people and I will continue to challenge it through the Ombudsman and so I hope that whoever the Ombudsman is or will be, will follow the law and the constitution and that is all we are asking for. And if he does that and is penalized for following the law and constitution then that speaks volume for the kind of leaders we are having.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How does it strike you that the post is yet to be filled, it remains vacant.”

 

Jerry Enriquez

“That in itself is a violation of the constitution and we intend to challenge that matter in court. I remember one minister boasting that the office remained vacant for two years. that is unacceptable.”

 

The Ombudsman’s case is set to be heard in the High Court in mid-July.

 

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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