Did Washington’s Deadline Drive Senate’s MCC Vote?

A looming deadline, nearly five hours of debate and repeated concerns from senators did not stop the Briceño Administration from pushing the Millennium Challenge Account Bill through the Senate today. The vote came just ten days before the government’s scheduled MCC launch, raising questions about whether the administration is rushing the legislation to meet its commitment to the United States. Senators also debated the accompanying Education and TVET Bills, challenging key provisions and calling for greater scrutiny. Lead Government Senator Eamon Courtenay sought to ease those concerns, promising that the legislation will return to the National Assembly for further debate within three months. But when the discussion ended, Union Senator Glenfield Dennison demanded a division, forcing senators to publicly record where they stood on the controversial bill.

 

Eamon Courtenay, Lead Government Senator

“It is not a satisfactory state of affairs. I confess that immediately and the request made by the government is unusual and extraordinary and to those senators who are prepared to amend the bill without an amendment, I am personally thanking you for that indulgence, difficult though it will be and unsatisfactory though it is. We find ourselves in a situation where the US and Belize has agreed to the Compact which is a grant of a hundred and twenty-five million dollars to dramatically reform the education and energy sectors of Belize. Honorable Francis Fonseca has written a letter to the Senate dated fourth of September addressed to yourselves and which has been shared to all senators. The purpose of this letter is to give his undertaking that there are twenty-one amendments that will be moved at the next sitting of the House of Representatives. Those amendments will be debated by the House of Representatives and that bill will be sent for debate. I have assured senators when that bill arrives at the Senate the entire architecture, all three bills will be open to Senate for further debate.”

 

The division forced every senator to show where they stood. Senator Glenfield Dennison, who called for the recorded vote, abstained alongside NGO Senator Janelle Chanona and Business Senator Kevin Herrera. All other senators voted in favor of the three bills.

 

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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