Elections in Belize

Elections in Belize are the duly held elections held at various levels of government in the nation of Belize.

Dissolving the National Assembly of Belize is the prerogative of the Governor General of Belize, currently Sir Colville Young. Under sections 84 and 85 of the Constitution, the Governor General can at any time dissolve or prorogue the Assembly under the advice of the Prime Minister of Belize, with the caveat that a general election must be called within three months of such dissolution, unless the Governor General sees no reason to do so.

City and town councils dissolve on the last Sunday of February in every third year, with the election called for the first Wednesday in March in every third year.

Amandala columnist Henry Gordon, refuting a statement by former Prime Minister Said Musa, laid out the boundaries under which national elections can be called in a recent article. Musa had said that elections would be held by March 2008 and that he would not take an election into "the extra three months", as he claimed Gordon had supposed. Gordon responded that there is no such provision in the Constitution and that Musa was being obscure on the matter.

Mr. Musa had requested a dissolution of the National Assembly on January 24, 2003, 4 years, 7 months and 4 days after the last general election, August 27, 1998. That dissolution was granted by Young on February 4, 2003, at which time the Assembly stood dissolved while preparations were made for elections on March 5, 2003. The PUP won the elections, with Musa continuing as Prime Minister. But his term did not begin, says Gordon, until the first meeting of the new National Assembly, on April 4, 2003. Since a National Assembly must continue for five years from this first sitting under Section 84, subsec. 2, the current assembly shall stand dissolved- unless sooner dissolved- on April 3, 2008. It follows that the latest a general election can be called after that date is July 3, 2008. Mr. Musa ended speculation over the date of general elections by calling them for February 7, 2008.

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