Politics - Channel 5 Belize

Voters in Toledo East Challenges in Getting to Polls

Four thousand, six hundred and seventy voters turned up at the polls on Wednesday to vote in Toledo East. That is sixty percent of the total number of registered voters in the constituency. On average, Toledo East records a seventy percent voters’ turnout during general elections. That number has been falling over the years and is now at an all-time low. Voters in the constituency have expressed frustration over the challenges faced while traveling on less than adequate road infrastructure to exercise their right to vote. Prime Minister John Briceño was asked about those concerns.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“The truth is that as a government we have invested millions and millions of dollars in infrastructure. But, because of the rains we have in the south and now because of climate change, at one time it used to rain constantly and now it is heavy showers and flashfloods, and it is creating a problem. So, we have to see how we can address that in the long-term basis. The challenge we have in Toledo is that we have a lot of small communities. I use the example between Orange Walk and Toledo District. Orange Walk has about twenty-one villages. Toledo district has about sixty villages. Our population is about twice the size of Toledo District, but yet each of these communities, need, not only want, they knew schools, community center, they need water. These are the basic needs of these communities. It puts a tremendous challenge on any government, so it is something we have to try a long-term solution and it is not going to be easy.”

P.M. on Weak Opposition: “Democracy at Its Best”

P.M. Briceño was also asked if he is any at all concerned about the fact that the opposition’s continued failure at the polls may lead to the erosion of Belize’s vibrant democracy. Of course, weak opposition is always a plus for an incumbent administration. So, it comes as no surprise when Prime Minister Briceño responded, saying that this is democracy at its best.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Absolutely not, this is democracy at its best, when people come out and decide who they want to support. When I was leader and during the difficult time I had, it was never as bad as this. But I was still out there, talking to people, meeting with them, and I think we have managed to cross that point where people now feel confident in our leadership and the work we are doing. We want to continue that and we want to reach out to everybody. Like I tell everybody, even during election time, I want you to come out and vote, even if you don’t vote for the P.U.P., come out and vote, it is important. That is democracy at its best. And when you look at central America and this region, Belize has one of the most vibrant, active, strong democracies in the region.”

Osmond Martinez Crushes Dennis Williams in Toledo East By-election

Dr. Osmond Martinez is the new area representative for Toledo East. Martinez, a member of the People’s United Party (PUP), replaces seventy-six-year-old Mike Espat, who passed away in April 2024 due to a heart attack.

Dr. Martinez defeated the United Democratic Party’s candidate, Dennis “Desho” Williams.

Martinez received 3269 votes. Williams received 1159 votes. Wil Maheia of the People’s National Party (PNP) received 202 votes. 40 votes were rejected.

Toledo East has 7725 registered voters. 4670 votes, or 60.25%, were cast.

In an interview with reporters late last night, the new area representative said, “It is a moment of emotion but at the same, it is a privilege, but more importantly it is a blessing of God.”

Prime Minister and PUP Leader John Briceño, who was on the grounds for the entire day, told reporters, “We wanted to have a decisive win to show the people or the rest of the country that the People’s United Party is strong and that people continue to support us.”

Notice to Employers for Toledo East Electoral Division By-Election

Employers are reminded of their legal obligations under Section 29 of the Representation of the People Act, which mandates that they must allow employees a prescribed period for voting on Election Day, Wednesday, 17th July 2024. The voting hours are between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

According to Section 29 (1) and (2) of the Act:

– Employers must permit every voter in their employ a reasonable time to vote without any deduction from pay or other penalties.
– Any employer who refuses to grant this time, or interferes with the voting process through intimidation or undue influence, may face a fine of up to two thousand dollars or imprisonment for up to one year.

Employers and the general public are urged to comply with these provisions to ensure a fair and smooth voting process.

P.U.P. Prepares for Toledo East By-election

Tonight, all eyes are on Toledo East where the two mass parties, as well as a third-party candidate, are preparing for Wednesday’s by-election to determine the next area representative for that constituency. The People’s United Party, since choosing Doctor Osmond Martinez as standard bearer, has been campaigning diligently across all twenty-one villages, and Punta Gorda Town, that make up Toledo East. Earlier today, we spoke by phone with Doctor Martinez who was in the remote village of Machakilha about his campaign efforts leading up to tomorrow’s political showdown.

On the phone: Dr. Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“We’ve been working, you know, towards July seventeenth and we are a few hours away from opening the polls, less than twenty-four hours, and we are excited. My team is excited, we are looking forward to just getting out there and cast the votes tomorrow morning, at seven in the morning.”

Isani Cayetano

“Do you believe that given the time that you’ve had to campaign, that you’ve perhaps reached every community that you’ve needed to reach within the Toledo East constituency?”

Osmond Martinez

“I have. I have been in all the communities, the twenty-one communities and one town and I have had the privilege to visit all the communities and the town. You know, one of our challenges is that people want to see us and continue to invite us to their homes and the time is short, but we are doing all our best and we will be visiting people up to six in the morning.”

Isani Cayetano

“What has the reception been in terms of the people that you’ve met on the ground and listening to some of their needs?”

Osmond Martinez

“Well the reception is excellent, you know, and it’s a testimony to what can or where we have seen that the reception is excellent is the response of the people during the Nomination Day. During the Nomination Day we had the largest crowd on Nomination Day and that was the largest of Toledo’s political history, not only Toledo East or Toledo West, where much of the or historically on Nomination Day you would have both constituencies.”

Osmond Martinez is Confident in Delivering Toledo East

Having covered as much ground as is necessary to secure his votes, Doctor Martinez is confident that he can deliver the constituency for the ruling party. According to the former C.E.O. turned politician, the results of the recent P.U.P. convention that saw him emerge victorious as standard bearer is an indication of his popularity in Toledo East.

Isani Cayetano

“How confident are you given the work that you’ve done, in terms of canvassing the constituency, going into tomorrow’s by-elections?”

On the Phone: Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“I am very confident and I will give you the historical data so that it can help you to understand why I am confident and this is empirical data. So, for example, in 2020, the U.D.P. candidate received about one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-one votes. During the convention, you know, which was more an internal party convention, it was an internal party convention, I received one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-two votes which means that during the convention I received more votes than what the U.D.P. candidate received in the 2020 general elections. So that on its own speaks for itself, you know, and the confidence and the timing is very important. Since the P.U.P. is the central government, it’s the government right now, the administration that is running the government, it makes it a little bit more viable for me, or much more viable because the people are asking the questions that the citizens are asking, or the residents of Toledo East are asking the opponents, you know, the other candidates. What will you do for us? And so, timing is important.”

P.U.P. Party Leader Join Dr. Osmond Martinez in Toledo East

So, we just heard from the P.U.P.’s Toledo East candidate, Doctor Osmond Martinez. We now turn to Prime Minister John Briceño, the leader of the People’s United Party. He is in Toledo East tonight alongside Martinez. We spoke with P.M. Briceño about the party’s level of preparedness going into tomorrow. Here is what he told us.

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño

“I have every confidence in Osmond’s campaign team. They have been very thorough in their organization. They have been organizing right up to the smallest detail. They have been not only to Bella Vista and Punta Gorda but also to the smaller villages to ensure that we can take out all of our voters and get out people to the poll. That is what is important. Tomorrow is to get our people to come out and vote for us. I have every confidence that the level of organization we will have in place can ensure that we will have a victory tomorrow.”

Paul Lopez

“There has been a bit of smear campaign or personal attacks against Dr. Martinez, how do you see these things affecting his chances tomorrow, specifically where his nationality is concerns and I know the opposition heralded on a statement he made on a morning show concerning the BDF.”

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño

“Again, that shows how desperate the U.D.P. is. They are trying to create an issue where none exist. Everybody know Osmond Martinez is a Belizean. He has one passport. He has one country. He has always considered himself one hundred percent Belizean. So when you have nothing good to say about your candidate then you try to do a smear campaign about your opponent and that has always been the way the UDP has operated. I am not surprised. We are running a positive campaign, one of how Osmond Martinez can continue to build on the work of the late Mike Espat, on the work of the P.U.P. government, the work we have been doing since November 2020.”

U.D.P. Flexes Political Muscle in Toledo East

In Punta Gorda campaigning along with U.D.P. Standard Bearer Dennis ‘Desho’ Williams is Party Leader Shyne Barrow. We were unable to speak with Williams today, as he was out of the service area campaigning. We got a word with the Leader of the Opposition who says that there has been a seismic shift in Toledo East where the U.D.P. has gained significant grounds since the November 2020 general elections.

Shyne Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“We have been working for the last eleven weeks. We are fortunate that we had the upper hand because the People’s United Party did not have their candidate until they had a convention. And so, we had at least another thirty days head start to get the work done and, fortunately, Desho Williams has been in the constituency his entire life, but has been here as the caretaker, then standard bearer for the last three and a half years. So he has done the groundwork, the people know him, the people like him very much and the people are prepared to give him a chance; U.D.P.s and P.U.P.s, because I can tell you that the People‘s United Party is extremely unpopular. So things have made a dramatic shift here in PG Town since the 2020 general elections where we lost by a thousand and in the 2021 municipal elections where even the independent mayoral candidate got votes than us. So we’ve come quite a long distance and we expect that tomorrow that will culminate with Desho Williams becoming the next area representative for Toledo East.”

Shyne Barrow Says P.U.P. has Abandoned Toledo East

According to Party Leader Barrow, the primary concern of residents in Toledo East is the ever-increasing cost of living. He also spoke on the abandonment of Toledo District under the present Briceño administration.

Shyne Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.

“You know, today we were eating in the restaurant and, you know, I asked for onion sauce and they said, “There’s no way we could afford onion sauce because the price of habanero has increased exponentially. The price of bread, the price of rice, the price of chicken, the price of beef, sugar which is a controlled price, you know, is being sold above the controlled price. That is the centerpiece of the complaints that we hear. We also hear about a government that lacks compassion and lacks a social tenets upon which the People’s United Party was built during the George Price era. When you hear Osmond Martinez say, over and repeatedly, that Toledo East has been abandoned and Toledo East has been neglected and Toledo East is the dark ages, that is an indictment of his People’s United Party government that has been there for the last three and a half years. That is an indictment of him as C.E.O. in the office of the Prime Minister, controlling a billion dollars, having done nothing for the people of Toledo East and that’s what you hear them saying. And in the other half of it, you hear them saying that this is an ungrateful party, the People’s United Party, they are ungrateful. They use you and they throw you away and they look at what they did to Mike Espat, some think they drove him to an early grave. Some feel that they totally used and abused the family and threw away Melhelm Espat. So you have U.D.P.s and P.U.P.s united.”

Osmond Martinez Responds to Opposition Leader Barrow

On the adjournment of Thursday’s special sitting of the House of Representatives, Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow rose to demand an apology from the People’s United Party for comments made by Doctor Osmond Martinez regarding the Belize Defense Force. Doctor Martinez raised the ire of the U.D.P. when he alleged that while growing up in his home village, members of the B.D.F. were responsible for sexually assaulting the women in that community. Here’s what he had to say in responding to Barrow’s criticism.

On the phone: Dr. Osmond Martinez, P.U.P. Standard Bearer, Toledo East

“When it comes to that position of the honorable Leader of the Opposition, I want to be clear that I am, I dare the honorable Leader of the Opposition to prove me wrong. And if he cannot prove me wrong, and I have said it already on another station, if he cannot prove me wrong within twenty-four hours, twenty-four hours have now gone since yesterday, then I am demanding a public apology from the Leader of the Opposition and the United Democratic Party to the affected population. Additionally, or on a different note, I want to be clear on one point, when it comes to the B.D.F., the Belize Defense Force as an institution, I have a lot of respect for them. I have very good friends in there and there are some officers that work extremely hard, very honest people and they have given everything to the country, to our beautiful country Belize.”