San Pedro Mayor Intends to Run in Belize Rural South

On Tuesday, we told you about San Pedro Mayor, Wally Nunez’s bid for a seat in the House of Representatives when he announced his interest to run in Belize Rural South. As he explained on his Facebook post, his purpose is driven by the voters of the constituency, which, he told us today, goes all the way back to 2012, when he was first asked to represent the residents of Belize Rural South. And from what he told us, there is quite some history to his story and interesting reasons why he remained in the shadows until now.

 

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro

“The main reason why I decided to put my name is because I ran back in 2012 as a counclilor and I saw the support. We had a lot of support and I was the only person that won at that time as a councillor from our party. Afterwards in 2015 when I decided to run again, people were asking me to run as a mayoral candidate. At that time, there was a lot of issues within the party, and we didn’t want to go to a convention. So I decided to step back and give a chance to the person to run for mayor. After 2015, I realized that the people were asking me to run for mayor. That’s why we didn’t win the elections in 2015. And in 2021, I decided to go for it. We saw the support. The level of support we got in 2021 was huge. And in 2024, this past election, we can see the margin that we have increased and the level of support that we’ve gotten out on the campaign trail. I was always asked by the residents that they will be voting for our team, but they would want me to go for area rep. I was just to tell them that I will think about it because I am running for mayor, but I will think about it and I will let them know. But now, right after the elections, everybody has been asking me and telling me that they want to support the party, but they want me to be representing them. And I decided to put up my name and that’s the reason why I’m here. I noticed there was a release from the People’s United Party that it is open for anybody who wants to apply to contest for the general elections. I decided to put out my name.”

 

Marion Ali

“Have you formally forwarded that application to the PUP, and what have been the response?”

 

Wally Nunez

“I am getting all my documents together to send to the party, but I haven’t sent it in yet. I will be sending it first thing next week. We have up until the 24th of this month to submit applications. This is not anything personal against the current area rep. It is what the people have been asking for, and I have been listening to what people are asking me when we have been out on the campaign.”

 

If Nunez is allowed to run against Perez in a convention and wins, then he will have to vacate the mayoral seat in order to contest the General Elections next year. If that happens, then there will have to be an election to replace him as mayor.