Tag: 2025-02-17

Justice Tawanda Hondora has yet to rule on a case brought to the High Court by several claimants, including Jeremy Enriquez. The case concerns the overdue redistricting exercise that the P.U.P. promised to complete before the upcoming general election. When asked about it on Sunday, the Prime Minister shared an intriguing perspective on the last-minute filing.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I don’t think it’s a matter of controversy.  If these people knew that that’s what they wanted to do, they could have done it a long time ago.  I think they started to do this, I believe, just trying to get attention when they started to hear that we are going to call elections.  It has been no secret, I’ve said it.  I have been under pressure from last year to call the elections and I’ve been saying no, we’re not going to call elections until 2025 and last year December I met with my closest advisors and we felt that March is a good month.  Usually, it’s dry, it’s cool and people are working, so we thought that that would be a good time to call the elections and that’s what we did.  Now when these people come at the last moment to try to stop this election, I think it’s unfortunate, but we have followed the law and, as prime minister, I have the right to call an election whenever I believe it is the right time.  I believe it is the right time.  I have committed before that one of the priorities of the new government, of the PUP government when we get in is to ensure that we could have the redistricting successfully.  Unfortunately, it was not done successfully and it was being rejected by everybody, by all sides.  So we need to make sure that we can do something that can meet the tests in the courts, because if we are proceeding with what was presented, it was going to be challenged in court and then I believe that the court would have overturned that.  So we want to make sure that we do it right.”

Is Prime Minister John Briceño reconsidering his earlier announcement that this would be his last general election before retiring in 2030? You might remember that the P.U.P. leader recently said this would be his final run. However, it seems his Cabinet colleagues, supporters, and close advisors have persuaded him otherwise. When we spoke with the PM on Sunday about his retirement plans, we got a surprising change of heart.

 

Isani Cayetano

“Talk to us about this particular election for you.  It’s very well your last election, in terms of your leadership of the People’s United Party and the leadership of this country.  Talk to us a bit about that.”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Probably I’m speaking too quick about the last election.  Yes, I’ve been, for so many years, like everybody else, I am looking forward to retiring.  But I have a greater responsibility to the government, to the country, and to the party and I said to the Cabinet, after I made an announcement, and after I’ve been getting the bombardment of calls from, especially, my Cabinet colleagues, you know, they are afraid that if I leave too early that the party could be fractured.  So I have to make sure that whenever I leave that the party would not be fractured, that the party would stay united and it could continue to serve the country and so whilst I am enjoying this election, this campaign, I always enjoy campaigns, I believe that with this campaign we could have a massive victory, that we can get a verification of the great work that we’ve done.”

Back in December, Omar Figueroa, the U.D.P. Standard Bearer for Cayo North, raised concerns about alleged electoral fraud in his constituency. After a favorable court ruling, he called on the Election and Boundaries Department to investigate 124 names on the voters list, claiming they didn’t belong to the constituency. Despite his efforts, those names remain on the list. Today, the Elections and Boundaries Commission issued a statement reaffirming that there has been no electoral fraud and that all voter registration processes comply with the Representation of the People Act. They assured that any challenges regarding voter residency are being properly addressed through legal channels. The commission also committed to upholding the integrity of Belize’s electoral system. We spoke with Figueroa for his reaction.

 

Omar Figueroa, U.D.P. Standard Bearer, Cayo North

“In total we are dealing with a hundred and twenty-four electors which we believe are fraudulently placed on the list. In the first instance, there are a hundred and one which was a case stated submission, which means a hundred and one electors in the process of transferring to Cayo North, some were new registrations, but most were in the process of transferring to Cayo North. One hundred and one was held up, because of a case stated. These electors were never on the list. When that submission was made the Magistrate was clear that because of the case stated those electors should go back to the constituencies were they came from. But the elections and boundaries went ahead and processed and finalized those applications. That is a cause of serious concern. There are twenty-three additional electors. These we objected to for the annual review. They had transferred in July but was already on the list when we objected for the annual review. But again, the Magistrate’s ruling was clear, it said that these twenty-three names should be removed form the Cayo North list. The Magistrate actually visited the locus in these cases. There were impromptu court sessions with the landlord and neighbors where they had to swear on a bible that they were testifying in court and it was clear that none of these electors were ever living where they said they were living.”

Last week, we introduced you to the Corozal candidates running in the 2025 general elections. This weekend, we headed to Orange Walk to meet with the United Democratic Party standard bearers as they campaigned in their constituencies. On Sunday, the People’s United Party held a national convention in Belize City, where we caught up with their candidates for the upcoming elections. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the details.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Our first stop was the Orange Walk Central constituency, where we sat down with Yara Cal Villeda, the United Democratic Party standard bearer. Villeda, a long-time resident of Orange Walk Town, has been an educator for over fifteen years. This isn’t her first foray into politics; she’s run for the town council twice before. Although she didn’t win, she believes the experience will help her unite Belizeans and create better opportunities for the youth.

 

Yara Cal Villeda, U.D.P. Standard Bearer, Orange Walk Central

“Our youth are the future. And I know it may sound cliche, but if we don’t help them, who will? And we all know that the cost of living is tremendously high. So most of our parents are finding it so difficult to send them to a sixth form. Yes, we have some schools, for example, Orange County Middle and High School has the free education program, but what after that? Do we just leave them to hang and dry there after fourth form? And we all know that after fourth form, you are not really assured a good future with just a high school diploma.”

 

Villeda’s opponent is Belize’s current Prime Minister, John Briceño. He is confident that the strong connection he has forged with his constituency will be evident on election day. Briceño explained how he juggles these relationships alongside his demanding ministerial responsibilities.

 

John Briceño, Standard Bearer, Orange Walk Central, P.U.P.

“It does help that you live in your constituency. So people come to my house, come to the office. It’s not that easy. But since you live in your constituency, it makes a big difference, so I think that I manage to keep in touch with people, usually on their Thursdays, Saturdays, and some Sundays. I just helped develop relationship with the voters. For some, it’s basically become like a friendship, like a family,”

 

Another concern Villeda plans to address is the high cost of living, She says if elected, she will do all within her power to drive the cost down and invest back into the people.

 

Yara Cal Villeda

“ We have to, first of all, rally for funding. Nothing can be done without the funds. Be the voice for them, because I think that so many times, we look at infrastructure, which is good, don’t get me wrong, all of that is wonderful, but we need to look at our human resource also. And as good as our streets are, if we don’t have the people who are going to work the afterwards, if we don’t have, the people who are going to build up our economy, Then we don’t have anything.”

 

Briceño points to the developments made in healthcare and agriculture as reasons to support his reelection. He promises more land, housing and better roads for Orange Walk.

 

John Briceño

“I always tell people you never take the voters for granted. You have to make sure you continue to work for them and to engage with them. And to ensure that they understand that you are there for them, and that your main job is to look after them. I tell everyone, I can only be Prime Minister because the people of Orange Walk give me that confidence and I never forget that.”

 

Heading over to Orange Walk North, we meet the standard bearer, Carlos Zetina. Zetina has served as the chairman of Douglas village for nearly a decade. He feels that the people of Orange Walk North have been overlooked and need change..

 

Carlos Zetina, Standard Bearer, Orange Walk South, U.D.P.

“They have not been reaching out to the cane farmers because remember we are in the north and this is specifically we have the cane farmers and they need a lot of assistance when it comes to their sugar roads. They cannot take out their cane because the roads are in a deplorable condition. Alright, and besides that we have we have the government putting this new NHI program where people go there, they see long lines and they don’t work on Saturdays and Sundays. Therefore, where will people go if they, you go to the Northern Regional Hospital, and they don’t have the adequate materials so that they can take care of these people. That ends up putting a burden on people’s lives.”

 

On the other hand, Jose Abelardo Mai of Belize Rural South believes he has built a strong connection with his constituency over his sixteen-year political career. He shared some of the positive feedback he has received from his supporters.

 

Jose Abelardo Mai, Standard Bearer, Orange Walk South, P.U.P.

“First and foremost, Orange Walks low is a rural community. We depend on the agriculture sector. Agriculture is a It’s the highest point in the history of the country. Everybody’s employed. Everybody’s getting salary. Not less than five dollars, more than half the power. So that is a great achievement for us. The mere fact that there is unemployment so low, and that the salaries have increased, it makes them so comfortable, so happy, and pleased with the government.”

 

Zetina reflects on the work he has put into developing his community. He maintains that if elected, he will be able to double his efforts in serving the needs of the people.

 

Carlos Zetina

“ I have started a lot of programs. I have. Involved the youth in sports. I’ve tried a garbage recollection program in the villages. I have started dealing with single mothers, trying to assist them, the elderly. They need help. So these are, this is where we start because we cannot just say, you know what, we are going to, we are going to make a bridge and then you have people suffering from hunger. So we need to take care of our people first.”

 

Mai aims to modernize the agriculture industry and promises that if re-elected, he will focus on repairing the sugar roads and creating more public spaces for the community to enjoy.

 

Jose Abelardo Mai

“Public spaces in the villages. There’s enough land. We have enough public spaces. What we need to do, is because of climate change, work on a plan to improve all the rural network of roads. Sugar roads or farm roads. Because the weather has really changed and it’s affecting us seriously. So resilient, resilient, the term resilient now really takes precedence.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.