Category: Politics

Recently, Party Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton and members of the UDP visited Cayo North to meet with election workers and scrutinizers about serious concerns during the recent general election. Allegations include voters photographing ballot sheets, misusing the proxy vote system, and participating in fraudulent voter transfers. Former Collet Area Representative Patrick Faber explained how these issues might have contributed to his recent loss in the constituency he held for over twenty years.

 

Patrick Faber, Former Area Representative, Collet

“ I’m not one who cries for all of these things, but I think something must be said. And I applaud the people of Cayo North for sounding the alarm before Omar Figueroa and the Cayo North folks, for instance succeeded in the court to prove fraud when it came to those voters that were transferred illegally. We would’ve thought, oh, these things just are run of the mill, spoken about, but not real until we saw where, there was some gain made in terms of proving it in the court. And I think that sent a signal for the nation. Even though as we look at what happened during the election, there is no doubt in my mind that some of those same irregularities happened in Collet. There was an abundance of people coming to vote along with the PUP operatives who claim all of a sudden, these are people who have known all my ideas in Collet all my twenty-five years or so in Collet, all of a sudden they can’t read, they can’t hold a pen, they don’t know how to mark an X. These things were very real. I complained to our returning officer on record quite a few times about photographing ballots that was very real on election day. Again, while personally I am not one to sit down and cry about the results, these things are very real. It may be, as I said in my post about Cayo North, not something that we want to use to try to overturn the election results now, but if we don’t pay attention to these things because they’re very real, if we don’t pay attention to them and make complaints about them this system of democracy that we practice in this country that we’ve enjoyed so a very long will crumble if those of us who have something to say and know what’s going wrong, don’t say anything about it, we are going to suffer the consequences.”

After her defeat at the polls on March twelfth, Kaya Cattouse is back at the Belize City Council, resuming her role managing the sanitation portfolio. So, how is she adjusting to her local government duties again? We asked the mayor, and here’s what he had to say.

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“She never left the work of the council. She never left. Of course we are glad to have her back. She is a very good councilor has worked very hard in running sanitation. She has done a good job. While she may not have been successful at the national level I still believe she is a very good client or standard bearer prospect for the Albert division. I will continue to support her and I wish her the best in the future.”

 

Reporter

“And with Devin Daly transitioning from the council?”

 

Bernard Wagner

“Again, prime example of youth inclusion. We have been told that we don’t promote youths at the Belize City Council. We have been one of the leaders in driving youth inclusion and Devin is one of those examples.”

 

The United Democratic Party has announced the appointment of three new opposition senators in the National Assembly. Former Collet Area Representative Patrick Faber is the new Lead Senator for the Opposition. Faber, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 at age twenty-four, served five consecutive terms for the Collet Division. He is well-known for his long tenure as Minister of Education, Youth, Sports, and Culture, where he led significant reforms in education and youth development. Joining him is attorney Sheena Pitts, who has served as Chairperson of the Labour Complaints Tribunal and Commissioner on the People’s Constitution Commission. She is also the Interim Chair of the U.D.P. Lastly, Gabriel Zetina, a resident of San Pedro who has worked in youth outreach, has been appointed as an opposition parliamentarian. The United Democratic Party believes these appointments reflect a renewed focus on principled leadership, constitutional reform, and people-centered governance. However, Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton has expressed the need for representation of the south.

 

On Monday, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams mentioned that he’s hoping to finalize the details of his new role as C.E.O. at the Ministry of Transport this week. However, Williams hinted that he has other ambitions. When asked if the potential creation of a new constituency in the rapidly growing Stann Creek district might tempt him to run for office, his response was a bit vague. Here’s what he had to say when the question came up.

 

Reporter

When the redistricting exercise happens, everyone agrees that there’ll be a new Stann Creek constituency, there has to be ten thousand voters. Do you see your ascension to a CEO post as a pathway to someday being a political candidate, perhaps in a new Stann Creek constituency?

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I cannot speak to what the intention of the Prime Minister to put me as the CEO, other than maybe that he wants to have someone there who is going to get things done and try to bring the ministry up to a certain level. But to answer your question, I do have aspirations, so if it is political aspirations or other aspirations, I won’t say it but I do have aspirations. You take that how you want and if or when that time comes, I will make my move.”

 

 

His division scored big at the polls with a whopping eighty-six percent on March twelfth. It’s the first for Orange Walk East, and with that win, people are starting to wonder if he should step up and lead the party once PM Briceño steps down. Kevin Bernard isn’t new to success either – before joining central government, he had a stellar career as a three-term mayor and even served as a town councilor in Orange Walk. Today, we asked Bernard if he should be seen as a potential leader for the P.U.P.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“I believe in one thing, I have always said this to myself and my family have always said, we do it with humility. We start from somewhere.  I started off seeing that I wanted to make a change in my community where I started as a councilor, I decided that I think I could do a done much more and so I served as mayor for three consecutive terms. I then thought that I believe that I can do even much more and serving in the capacity as an area representative and I want to thank the great people of Orange Walk East for having given me that opportunity and I have been now re-elected. My plan is to continue to work for the people in the constituency, and  we will cross that bridge when we get there at some point. Of course, as I said, as long as the people of Orange Walk East puts me here, I’m prepared to work for the benefit of them, and the benefit of Belize, and I know that people have been asking me about that, but for me, that’s not the priority at this stage. That is not my priority. My priority is to continue to work for people, for Orange Walk East. We will see where that trajectory takes us or where it takes me at some point. We have great people in this party that can lead this party at some point down the road. For now, I’m focused on the fact that John Briceno is our prime minister. He’s our leader, and as long as he’s leading this party, I’m there to support our leader. You could look at every area and there, there are people that can lead this party. Once and whenever the Prime Minister decides to leave politics, I mean, you have great people in the west. You have great people in the south. You have people in the north, and of course in the city there are great people that can be lead. As the Prime Minister mentioned, he has a good bench of individuals that can at some point take on the mantle of leadership, but I don’t think that at the end of the day, it’s about whether Belize City or Belize District is the strength of the political power within any party. I think that it’s up to the delegates of a party whenever that time comes around, who will decide who they want to lead the party whenever that time comes. So for now, as I said, my focus is to continue to work on Orange Walk East to ensure that we continue to support our leader in his quest and vision to build on planBelize and planBelize 2.0 so that we can achieve our objectives and a third term sometime down the road.”

 

Will the High Court case between Moses “Shyne” Barrow and Tracy Taegar-Panton continue now that Panton has taken over the party leadership? The court hearing is scheduled for March thirty-first, and Barrow was confident that he and his team would be vindicated. However, with Barrow resigning after his election defeat and U.D.P. members rallying behind Panton, we asked her on Tuesday if the case had become irrelevant.

 

Reporter

“In relation to the case you have your one day trial on the thirty-first unless you expect Barrow will withdraw that?”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton, Party Leader, U.D.P

“Well you would have to ask him that question whether he intends to withdraw. What I can say is that there are three of the claimants who are now making steps to withdraw from the case.”

 

Reporter

“So if a convention is held and you are elected the leader, endorsed, then a case does not matter.”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton

“I did not drag myself to court and I did not drag this party to court. That was done by the former party leader and the former chairman. They will have to answer those questions. If we have to show up to court we wild o so. We have a very capable, competent leadership team representing us and I am sure that they will make the argument that will vindicate us in the court.”

 

What about Moses “Shyne” Barrow’s future in the U.D.P.? Will the party welcome him back? We asked Panton for her thoughts on this.

 

Paul Lopez

“Will an olive branch be offered to Mr. Barrow to play a role in the party moving forward any at all?”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“That is not a matter for Tracy Panton. It is a matter for Shyne Barrow. It is a matter for the people of Mesop. It is not a matter for Tracy Panton. Healing will take time and we are not going to make any harsh or hard and fast decisions. We are going to allow the time that it takes to do the steps we must take to solidify this team and the U.D.P. moving forward.”

 

Reporter

“I know it is your prerogative, but is there any room for Mr. Faber and Saldivar in the Senate perhaps?”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton

“I will announce the Senate appointments at the appropriate times.”

 

Reporter

“The party headquarters, any likelihood given what has happened so far that you will get to go back?”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton

“It is a matter for the court at this point. There was a temporary injunction period to our former party leader and until that matter is cleared up in court then we respect the decision of the court in that respect.”

 

Reporter

“You never harbored any ill will towards those who supported Mr. Barrow. Despite everything that happened there was a rallying behind you today.”

 

Tracy Taegar-Panton

“There could be no ill will, the people in the various constituencies determined who they want their standard bearers to be. I respect the people. This U.D.P. under my leadership will be people centered.”