Should prisoners on remand at the Belize Central Prison be allowed to vote? Attorney Michelle Trapp Zuniga from the Justice for Humans Project thinks so. She has written to the Chairman of the Election and Boundaries Department, asking that prisoners on remand be allowed to vote in the upcoming general election. Zuniga is advocating for this right to be given to prisoners serving sentences of twelve months or less and who are registered in their respective divisions. She also requested that reasonable arrangements be made to facilitate this process, emphasizing that their constitutional rights would be violated if these arrangements weren’t made. Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre, who was copied on the letter, mentioned today that he hasn’t seen it yet.
Anthony Sylvestre, Attorney General
“I checked with the Chief elections officer and my office and we have not received any specific correspondence as yet. I don’t know if this is some previous correspondence that has been sent. I read the social media post and the impression it gave is that some letter was sent yesterday or recently. As far as my office is concerned we have not received any such document recently.”
Reporter
“But if you were to receive one and the elections and boundaries department.”
Anthony Sylvestre
“They would clearly have to review it and send it to our office and we would review and the would seek our advice on the matter.”
Reporter
“This is the first time something like this is being raised though.”
Anthony Sylvestre
“Yes to my knowledge, but what I should point out that before someone could even entertain he prospects of voting they have to be on the voters list. All of those are things that would have to be looked at.”
Attorney General Anthony Sylvestre used to be a politician before becoming the chief attorney for the Government of Belize. Today, we asked him about the automatic wins given to Anthony Mahler and Henry Charles Usher after their opponents didn’t show up on Nomination Day. Sylvestre shared what the constitution says about this situation and reflected on his own experiences as a political candidate.
Anthony Sylvestre
Anthony Sylvestre, Former Electoral Candidate
“You will appreciate that the law takes cognizance of the fact that you will have such occurrences where a person may have initially had the thought process to run, to contest an election and they change. I can say, as you indicated, I have been in the belly of the beast. In my previous life I contested an election against no less than the then prime minister. I can tell you it is a daunting, extremely overwhelming experience. One has to factor and weigh all of those things before one even sets out and aspires to do that. It is a very difficult decision-making process and I am sure the gentlemen may have had their reason why they did what they did. The law and the constitution take cognizant the fact you can have someone be elected without an election. It can be said there fore that there is something untoward or illegal about that. It is just the nature of democracy.”
The Albert constituency is one of the oldest areas in Belize City, with roots stretching back to colonial times. Before Mark Espat claimed victory for the PUP in 1993, this area was a stronghold for the UDP, with Philip Goldson consistently winning the seat. After Espat’s win, the constituency swung back to the UDP, with Herman Longsworth taking the seat in 2012, followed by Tracy Taegar-Panton in subsequent elections. Today, News Five dives into the upcoming March twelfth general election, taking a closer look at three of the four candidates vying for the Albert seat. Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
On March twelfth, the ballot paper for the Albert constituency will feature three names: the incumbent Tracy Taegar-Panton, the PUP’s Kaya Cattouse, and the UDP’s Jose Luis Uc Espat, who is running under the leadership of Opposition Leader Moses “Shyne” Barrow. Each candidate brings their own perspective on the key issues facing the community. Tracy Taegar-Panton believes that the people of Albert are looking for a significant drop in the cost of living, along with support for housing, skills training, and more job opportunities.
Tracy Taegar-Panton
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Area Representative, Albert
“The big, big issue of course is the high cost of living. That’s the major one, the cost of fuel. In Albert, housing and housing repairs is a big issue – a need for greater support for entrepreneurship initiatives, whether seed capital or training, so that they can find ways to earn an income and not have to be dependent on a government job or for the market, so to speak, to open up because the productive sector is growing. People want to – I think it’s really important for them to be part of the solution in terms of their income earning.”
Tracy Taegar-Panton’s PUP rival, Kaya Cattouse, shared with News Five that she kicked off her campaign in the area back in mid-2024. She says the response from the community has been incredibly encouraging, fueling her drive to make a difference.
Kaya Cattouse
Kaya Cattouse, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Albert
“People are looking for a change. People in the constituency have been living in uncomfortable situations for a very long time. It has a lot to do with the current area representative in the constituency and the lack of work, the lack of effort for the people in the constituency. I mean, it’s simply giving people a more comfortable environment to live in, more comfortable housing, and that may be something simple like that. assisting people with their roofs, or their siding, or their flooring, or just making their homes more livable.
The other UDP candidate is Jose Uc Espat, who is running under the leadership of Moses “Shyne” Barrow.
Jose Uc Espat
Jose Uc Espat, U.D.P. Standard Bearer, Albert
“Jobs, the economy, cost of life, health, all these things are issues that are in the community of the Albert Division, different communities, and also national issues that affect this entire nation.”
Espat says that even if he is not victorious at the polls, he will show the constituents that his bid to serve them is genuine.
Jose Uc Espat
“I will not, at the end of the day, look at who vote for PUP, look at who vote for who vote for me. When election is done, if given that opportunity by the people. For me, every single one of my constituents is equally important. If you voted for me, if you did not vote for me, and if you abstained, you, I need to let you know, and show you, as I always show through leadership, through action, an example, why, why you should vote for me, or why I’m here, and I will show you with action, and like I always tell everybody, I’m not going to talk this, I’m going to fix this.”
One of the issues of any election is that of campaign financing and Panton says the monies she receives are just enough to spread around to her campaigners.
Marion Ali
“Where’s the campaign financing coming from?”
Tracy Taegar-Panton
”Where our campaign finances have always come from, from the business community within our constituency, from the families in the constituency that can afford to lend their support financially or otherwise to the campaign. That is where we garner our support. Most of our campaigners volunteer their time. The people who are in charge of our callback and we do offer a stipend, but it’s nothing significant. It’s really a token to say thank you for lending your support to the campaign and that’s how we’ve done it in the last two elections and that’s how we expect to do it again.”
There’s always a lot of chatter about vote-buying around election time, but it’s a topic that politicians often avoid. However, Kaya Cattouse told us that it’s not a relevant issue for her in Albert.
Kaya Cattouse
“In the Albert constituency that people can see that they have not been receiving love any at all for the past three terms. You don’t need to buy their votes. The people will come out and support us regardless.”
On Tuesday, the Elections and Boundaries Commission decided that all forty-one United Democratic Party candidates will use the color red on their ballots for the general elections. As we’ve reported, twenty-five candidates are from Barrow’s U.D.P. faction, while fifteen are under Panton’s leadership. Anthony “Boots” Martinez, running in Port Loyola, isn’t aligned with either faction but identifies as a U.D.P. candidate. Barrow has threatened to file a civil suit if the commission proceeds with this decision. Earlier today, Panton shared that the commission made a fair call.
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Party Leader, U.D.P.
“I think it is a fair decision. The matter, there is a matter before the court. It has not been resolved. Not that I think the court has any business in the internal affairs of the party. However it is before the court. I do not accept that I and my colleagues were purportedly expelled from the party. We are members of the U.D.P. and it has been traditional that members of the U.D.P. is assigned the color red. I know it was a difficult decision. I understand there was quite a bit of dialogue and debate as to what would be the right and fair thing. At the end of the day, I think they achieve that.”
Paul Lopez
“Is it that there will be no symbols with colors to differentiate?”
Tracy Taegar-Panton
“There will be no symbols as I understand it. It is the color red. In my case it is alittle problematic because there is another quote on quote U.D.P. candidate running for Albert. For me the next thirteen days will be about voters education, making sure people understand there is going to be two red squares on the ballot and that it is important for them to look for my name when casting a vote on March twelfth.”
On March twelfth, forty-one U.D.P. candidates will appear on the election ballot, all using the color red. This marks the first time a major political party is fielding so many candidates in constituencies where they aim to win. U.D.P. leaders Tracy Taegar-Panton and Moses “Shyne” Barrow are standing firm on using red as the party’s official color. While this might cause some confusion among U.D.P. supporters about where to place their X on election day, Prime Minister John Briceno mentioned that the Election and Boundaries Commission had to make the best of a tricky situation.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We need to understand something that the Elections and Boundaries Commission is independent of the Government and I think they’re trying to come up with the best out of a bad situation, where both parties are claiming they’re legitimate U.D.Ps. If you look at it, Mr. Barrow eked out a victory at the convention and when Ms. Panton asked for a recount the chairman said no recount but if you want, go to court. And he won by what two, three votes and she felt that she was taken advantage of so she wanted a recount and the chairman, for obvious reasons, decided end it right here, if you don’t like it, go to court. Tracy continued working the constitution the U.D.P, as far as I understand. I don’t study their constitution and she has followed the constitution and she visited different areas and if you have a number of signatures, from the various divisions calling for a convention it is incumbent on the chairman to call a convention and when he refuses to do so, he can’t contravene the constitution so what did she do. She went ahead, called for a convention and was elected as an interim leader in her mind, Who is right, I don’t know. I don’t interfere in their inter-arty politics. Now here you have two persons claiming to be the leader of the U.D.P. So what do you want the Elections and Boundaries do? I think they’re trying to come up with the best of a very bad situation.”
Dean Samuels, the United Democratic Party’s Nomination Day no-show, has finally broken his silence. In a Facebook video, Samuels explained why he backed out at the last minute. His reasons ranged from medical emergency and financial constraints to a fear of being blown out. Here’s a bit of what he had to say.
Dean Samuels
Dean Samuels, U.D.P Member
“I want to publicly apologize to my party, every member of the United Democratic Pary and its supporters. I want to public apologize to Honorable Shyne Barrow my party leader, to Ms. Tracy Panton and other U.D.P members who supports her. I want to publicly apologize to the people of the Pickstock division, those of you who I took away the chance from giving you your opportunity to protest your vote against the wrongs that this government is doing. You of all people, I took that away from you guys and for me that basically is one of the worst feeling I have, is that. Politics is about finances and the truth of the matter is, everybody understands that the person I was going up against is one of the most powerful, financially viable people in government. It was understood by my party that you know what happened, moving forward the finance will be put in the hand of those seats we have more chances of winning, which I agree. We have no problem with that. It is disheartening but there is no problem with that. The reality is, if I can’t represent people the way I want represent people, or put forward a proper bid then I just the set myself up for one of the worst lose ever in history.”
As you heard, Dean Samuels apologized to Tracy Taegar-Panton. However, she believes it’s a travesty and insists that all four candidates should have stepped aside well before Nomination Day.
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Party Leader, U.D.P.
“We have been from the onset fighting and promoting and defending the ideology of democracy. And in a democracy people should have a choice to make a decision. I think it is a travesty that candidates for whatever reason, and I really don’t know whatever those reasons were, decided at the eleventh hour to sit it out. If you knew you were not fit or prepared to lead, whatever the issue is that may have arisen, then you should have stepped aside and allow us to find a candidate to contest the elections. It is only fair and right that as Belizeans we have an opportunity to say who we wish to represent us in the National Assembly. I would not want to win anything by default, because I don’t know If that is a true reflection of what the people feel or what they hope to achieve by making their voices heard.”
The day after he missed his nomination in the Pickstock constituency, Dean Samuels took to Facebook Live to explain his sudden disappearance. He claimed he fell ill with fainting spells just before reaching the Belize City Civic Center. Samuels, who was seen in a parade shortly before vanishing, also mentioned that he was up against a strong P.U.P. candidate and that the U.D.P. chose to support candidates with better chances of winning. However, the Prime Minister isn’t convinced by Samuels’s last-minute withdrawal.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Was he strapped to a bed?”
Reporter
“He said he had syncope, fainting spells.”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“How long ih wat ek yoh to sign your name on the form and finish? He never had to ker nobody. It is obvious that Mr. Samuels realized that there’s no way that he could win Anthony Mahler and figured “why I gwein embarrass myself?”
News Five has confirmed that Moses “Shyne” Barrow and his legal team are gearing up to request a judicial review from the High Court regarding the Elections and Boundaries decision. However, Tracy Taegar-Panton is skeptical about the success of his legal challenge. She argues that the court doesn’t have the time, and voters are eager to cast their ballots.
Tracy Taegar-Panton, Party Leader, U.D.P
“I don’t believe it is going to alter the decision. The Elections and Boundaries Commission by law has the discretion of making that call. I think they really took the highroad of ensuring that all U.D.P. candidates are appropriately represented on the ballot using the traditional red that our voters have become use to. And it is his prerogative to challenge what he believes does not work in his favor. I don’t believe the courts will have time for that and certainly the voters are ready to vote.”
Port Loyola voters are in for a unique race! On March twelfth, they’ll see three U.D.P candidates on the ballot – the only division with that many U.D.P hopefuls vying for the seat. All three are aiming to defeat the People’s United Party’s incumbent, Gilroy Usher Sr. It’s definitely one of the races to watch. News Five’s Paul Lopez has been on the ground, chatting with all four candidates. Here’s his report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The political race in Port Loyola is really heating up. Three United Democratic Party candidates are challenging the People’s United Party incumbent, Gilroy Usher Sr., who is seeking a second term after his first win in the 2020 general election. So, who will come out on top?
Gilroy Usher
Gilroy Usher, P.U.P. Candidate, Port Loyola
“It was a tremendous honor to serve the people of Port Loyola. I want to say thanks for giving me that opportunity. In serving them I have been able to address a number of things, land, housing, educational opportunities, improvement of sporting facilities and promotion of small businesses.”
In an interesting twist, Gilroy Usher will be going head-to-head with his son-in-law, Phillip “Superman” Willoughby, who is one of the three U.D.P candidates in the race.
Phillip Willoughby
Phillip Willoughby, U.D.P Candidate, Port Loyola
“People will look and criticize my marriage. Paul I think everybody suppose to celebrate a marriage. It is a union before God and man. I don’t know if they would rather see the type of politicians run around, frolicking around, messing around.”
Willoughby emphasizes that his candidacy is all about addressing residents’ needs. He took us to the home of Brenda Usher, a local resident, who passionately voiced her frustrations about the poor condition of her streets.
Brenda Usher
Brenda Usher, Port Loyola Resident
“Oh, I nuh healthy, ih nuh healthy. I beg mih area rep. I don’t know if dah the area rep fih fix it, or the city council. But I know somebody need fuh come help we,because we the tek lick dah back yah.”
Phillip Willoughby
“The houses from the Esquivel era, the three-bedroom, two-bedroom houses were the best of the best of UDP at the time. That is what I want to bring back to the people of Port Loyola. That is what they deserve. They need and deserve their land. They need and deserve their homes.”
During the Esquivel era, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, one of the three U.D.P candidates, had the government write off homes for owners facing financial difficulties. However, Martinez is now facing heavy criticism from his opponents over the current condition of those homes he built during his time as a four-time area representative.
Anthony “Boots” Martinez
Anthony “Boots” Martinez, U.D.P Candidate, Port Loyola
“In thirteen years I have built over five hundred houses, cement and wood houses for the residents of Port Loyola and they don’t owe N.O.T.H.I.N.G, nothing. What is important, your services. If you notice I didn’t single handedly call nobody. I didn’t mention on person I build a house for. I will mention things that happened in the community across. Like for example, from Fabers, by the long barracks, corner of Ceasar Ridge Road to the George Price Highway was cemented under my tenure. Nurse Finely, Allan Pitts Gill Street where Mr. Usher has his office. So I left the area under good standards. I took Port Loyola from a poor constituency to a semi-middle class as we speak right now.”
Career Educator, Dr. Nelma Mortis, is the only woman in the Port Loyola race. She emphasized that her approach isn’t about exploiting residents’ struggles for political gain. Instead, she invited us to meet in an office to discuss her vision for the constituency.
Nelma Mortis
Nelma Mortis, U.D.P Candidate, Port Loyola
“I see a lot of environmental conditions. There is a need for job growth in the constituency and additional to that, there is need for more social interaction with the environment and people in there. I am very confident in this we in, because the people of Port needs a change. The people of Port has been neglected by my direct opponent, Mr. Usher. Mister Boots Martinez has completed my task and he needs to retire gracefully. And, Mr. Willoughby does have good intention, but he seems to be a little bit laid back and tardy in his approach to doing the work as to what should be done.”
