Cabinet Sets One-Year Deadline for Redistricting

Cabinet has announced a firm one-year deadline for completing Belize’s long-delayed redistricting exercise; the decision follows the March 12 General Election in which the ruling People’s United Party (PUP) retained 26 of 31 parliamentary seats.

The announce-ment, issued through the April 3 Cabinet Brief, confirmed that Cabinet rejected the 2023 redistricting proposals from the Elections and Boundaries Commission as constitutionally inadequate. It further directed the Attorney General and the Minister responsible for elections to coordinate with the Commission on any constitutional amendments needed to enable a lawful and equitable re-divisioning of electoral boundaries.

The government’s stated commitment includes facilitating the Commission throughout the process to ensure completion within twelve months. This marks the most definitive timeline yet for addressing concerns over voter malapportionment, a constitutional issue that has been the subject of litigation and advocacy.

The Cabinet’s move follows mounting legal and political pressure for reform. On March 26, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed an appeal by Jeremy Enriquez, who had sought to delay the election on the basis of disproportionate constituency sizes. The CCJ ruled that such challenges must be addressed before or after an election—not during an active writ period—and reinforced the legal precedent that courts do not interfere once Parliament is dissolved.

The ruling effectively cleared the way for the general election, but left unresolved the broader question of electoral fairness—one that now returns to the political domain through Cabinet’s redistricting mandate.

The Elections and Boundaries Commission had previously acknowledged disparities between divisions, including stark differences in voter counts across constituencies. Section 90 of the Constitution requires that electoral divisions be as equal in voter population as practicable..