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Belize: Belize Government
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Belize is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model and is a member of the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and is represented in the country by Governor General Dr. Colville N. Young, Sr., a Belizean and Belize's second governor general. The primary executive organ of government is the cabinet, led by a prime minister (head of government). Cabinet ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and usually hold elected seats in the National Assembly concurrently with their cabinet positions.
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Belize has taken steps to attract foreign investment while minimizing environmental exploitation, which it recognizes as crucial to continue attracting eco-tourists. In the 1980s, the government took a series of initiatives (passing the National Park System Act and the Wildlife Protection Ordinance) to provide legal protection for the environment and create new parks and reserves. According to Musa, the government discourages extractive and wasteful industries such as exporting timber, instead promoting the clothing, furniture, shrimp farming, boats and batteries industries.10
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Belize has six districts. Each one has elected officials responsible for representing the people of the district. Each district has a main town which acts as the center of government for that portion of Belize. Each town has elected officials responsible for local services. Even village councils and village leaders are elected. Every citizen over the age of 18 can vote.
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Belize aims to stimulate the growth of commercial agriculture through CARICOM. However, Belizean trade with the rest of the Caribbean is small compared to that with the United States and Europe. The country is a beneficiary of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) program, which forms part of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act--signed into law by President Clinton on May 8, 2000--a comprehensive U.S. Government program designed to stimulate investment in Caribbean nations by providing duty-free access to the U.S. market for most Caribbean products. Significant U.S. private investments in citrus and shrimp farms have been made in Belize under CBI. U.S. trade preferences allowing for duty-free re-import of finished apparel cut from U.S. textiles have significantly expanded the apparel industry. European Union (EU) and U.K. preferences ... have been vital for the expansion and prosperity of the sugar and banana industries.
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In February, the Government of Belize (GOB) illegally seized control, from a U.S. investor, of the Belize phone company known as BTL. Originally invited by the government to take over BTL and modernize Belize's telecommunications, the U.S. investor was forced to go to federal court in Miami. In March, the U.S. court ordered the government to restore control to the U.S. investor and the court has now held the GOB in contempt.
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Currently, the Belize Government is controlled by the People's United Party (PUP), which was elected to a second consecutive term in office on March 5, 2003. The PUP won 22 of the 29 seats in the House of Representatives, while the United Democratic Party (UDP) won the other seven seats. However, the PUP lost one seat in Parliament during a by-election held after the death of a minister in October 2003, but still maintains a comfortable majority. Dean Barrow is the leader of the opposition. The PUP has governed Belize from 1998 to the present; the UDP from 1993-98; the PUP from 1989-1993; and the UDP from 1984-89. Before 1984, the PUP had dominated the electoral scene for more than 30 years and was the party in power when Belize became independent in 1981.
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Belize Government