Musa made the announcement during a breakfast meeting on Monday morning with members of his Cabinet, which was attended by a majority of Belize’s clergy, in which he revealed that he would advise the Governor-General, Sir Colville Young, to dissolve parliament.

“In accordance with the constitution of Belize, His Excellency the Governor General today issued a proclamation dissolving the National Assembly," Musa declared. "Nomination day has been set for January 21st, and the general elections will be held on Thursday February 7th, 2008."

The Prime Minister announced on the same day that Belizean voters will also participate in a referendum - which will be on a separate ballot - on the question of whether Belize should have an elected senate. Currently, the Governor-General appoints the 12-member Senate from six members on the advice of the Prime Minister, three on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and one each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee.

However, he dismissed suggestions that holding two votes on the same day would confuse the electorate.

"It will be held like I said on the same day in all 31 constituencies. The details will be explained by the chief elections officer but basically it will be conducted similar to the way it was done when we had two elections the same day for the general and the municipal elections," he explained.

"We believe Belize is ready for another bold advance in the making of the modern democratic Belize," Musa went on to add.

"Our party has completed an internal consultation and we have decided that the senate has a new and important role to play in modern Belize. In our view, for it to properly and effectively perform its new functions, the senators should be elected by the people," the Prime Minister concluded.

Musa, a lawyer by profession, was appointed leader of the People's United Party in 1996 and has served as the former British colony's Prime Minister since August 1998, leading the party to victory in the last elections in 2003. However, his time as Prime Minister has been dogged by scandal and controversy, notably in 2004, when seven cabinet ministers resigned in response to the alleged use of social security funds to pay the defaulted loans of a private company and to guarantee loans for telecoms company Intelco.