By Belize Live News Staff: A political back and forth is intensifying over the future of Minister Oscar Mira, with the opposition demanding his removal and the Prime Minister standing his ground.
The United Democratic Party issued a press release calling for Mira to be removed from government immediately. According to the party, the three-month leave of absence Mira is currently serving is not a strong enough response to the questions surrounding government payments to his family’s businesses.
Prime Minister John Briceño was unmoved by the opposition’s demands. He said he does not believe the UDP has the moral authority to speak on such matters, pointing to the way the previous administration handled similar situations. In his telling, the former prime minister would defend his ministers until it was no longer possible to do so, whereas his own government, he said, acts immediately. Briceño stressed that the goal is to get to the bottom of what happened.
The clash is the latest development in a controversy that has dominated the national conversation for weeks. Mira has consistently denied any involvement in awarding contracts or influencing how payments were made, and the government has pointed to the audit it requested into the Ministry of Defence as the proper avenue to establish the facts. That review is expected to take roughly three months, and no conclusions have yet been reached.
