PM Briceño Says Referendum Act to Be Amended

Caye Caulker Village will hold a referendum on October 8, 2025, to decide whether cannabis should be legalised locally. The vote follows a petition by residents calling for a regulated and taxable cannabis industry, with revenue benefiting the community.

Prime Minister John Briceño said the referendum exposed gaps in Belize’s legislation. “What that has shown us is that there are some weaknesses in the referendum act because the definition of how to hold a referendum is not properly defined by geographic area, by district, or by constituency area. So now here we have a village that is saying they want a referendum, and legally we could not have stopped it. So, we are going to the national assembly next week to make some amendments to ensure that those things can’t happen,” he said.

He added, “Because, you know, any lee village could call up a referendum for whatever it is that they want, and we have to make sure that we don’t do that, and secondly, also to ensure that if they want to have a referendum, it has to be something specifically just for them and does not have national implications.”

Briceño said the amendments will clarify the distinction between “national or local referendum,” ensuring future votes remain legally sound.

Governor-General Dame Froyla Tzalam has signed off on the Writ of Referendum, validating signatures from at least 25% of registered voters. Votes will be certified the following day.

The Elections and Boundaries Department has appointed Anthony Mai as Returning Officer and Rigoberto Quintana as Election Clerk for the Belize Rural South Electoral Division.