Tag: 2025-03-13

Down in Dangriga, the People’s United Party snagged another victory with Dr. Louis Zabaneh being re-elected as the area rep. Zabaneh, who was aiming for re-election, went head-to-head with his only challenger, independent candidate Cyril Garcia. In the end, Zabaneh clinched the win with two thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven votes, leaving Garcia far behind with just six hundred and twenty-eight votes. Here’s what Zabaneh had to say just before the official results were announced.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Area Representative. Dangriga

“I am totally grateful. I feel humbled by the large support that was shown today. And I’m grateful that we get another opportunity. Yes, it’s unofficial at this time. But all the numbers coming out of each of the polling rooms It was it would amount to a blowout. That is a blowout, not from me, but from the people of Dangriga Sawawee and Hope Creek, they were the ones who came out. And I’m grateful for them giving me another opportunity. And certainly I pledge again that  I will be working as hard as possible, working with them as a team for us to be able to reach our common goals and objectives.”

 

Dr. Gwen Nunez-Gonzalez

“What would be your concluding  thoughts to the people who have stood by you?”

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh

“No from day one, we’ve always said that we are going to work together and that’s exactly what we did. I give all credit to everybody who have worked so hard. Our executive, our mayor, our senator, everybody working together is what made this so successful this first term, and that’s a first term with the first two years with COVID and all that that we had to do. If we continue on this momentum and we continue to work even closer than we did before, I am absolutely certain that we will be able to deliver even more to the great people of Dangriga, Sawawee, and Hope Creek.”

 

Over in Stann Creek West, Rodwell Ferguson scored another major victory for the P.U.P. He faced off against two challengers: Macario Augustin from the U.D.P., who got one hundred and seventy-one votes, and independent candidate Matteo Polanco, who managed just twenty-four votes. Rodwell came out on top with a whopping three thousand, nine hundred and seven votes. Earlier in the day, we caught up with Ferguson to hear his thoughts on the overwhelming support he was receiving.

 

Rodwell Ferguson, Area Representative, Stann Creek

“I feel very excited, because today is Election Day. And the people of Stann Creek West will decide who will be elected for the next five years. I feel very confident that I’m going to be elected back to office after the election, after the last ballot count, there will be a victory for Rodwell Ferguson in Stann Creek West.”

 

Wahrisie Elijio

“So, Mr. Ferguson, what do you think motivates the support that you are having today?’

 

Rodwell Ferguson

“I work with them since  2020 when we became the government. I never stop one single day. And even though it’s a huge constituency, I make sure every village see the benefit of my leadership. So they’re all happy. The key behind it, I work with all elected village councilors, bar none. And so they came out,  the leader of the village, and said, We must support Rodwell Ferguson, because you worked with us, and we see improvement in our village, over the last four years”

 

Wahrisie Elijio

“ So if you were to be elected again today, what would be your top priority?”

 

Rodwell Ferguson

“My top priority is to continue development. We are a small country with limited resources, so whatever I get from the government is for my people. And so whatever needs to be done, I will continue for the next five years.”

 

In Toledo East, Doctor Osmond Martinez absolutely dominated the race, blowing away his two opponents. Out of the five thousand, three hundred and sixty-five votes cast, Martinez secured a whopping four thousand, nine hundred and fifty-four votes. His competitors, Wil Maheia and Orlando Muschamp, only managed to get three hundred and seventy-four and thirty-seven votes, respectively. After the Returning Officer, Marion Nolberto, announced the final tally, Martinez noted that voter turnout could have been better. He pointed out that many eligible residents still haven’t registered to vote. Martinez made an appeal to those residents and shared his vision for what constituents can expect from him over the next five years.

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Area Representative, Toledo East

“ We have about 24, 000 people that are eligible to be registered in Toledo East. And I want to take this opportunity to ask, everyone, please go and register between July 17, after the by election to know we almost did 1,000 new register. And even after January 10th to present, it was almost a hundred new voters that got registered. But it’s important that everyone go out there and register to vote. Then that will help us, it will justify why we should have redistricting because redistricting is not asked because of the landmass, but it’s asked because of the amount of voters that you represent.”

 

Reporter

“Tell us what Toledo East  can expect from you in the next five years.”

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez

“ Work, work, work and work comes within three pillars within our plan. Um, our plan of Plan Belize 2. 0 and Plan Belize Toledo, which is compatible to Plan Belize 2. 0. And that is It’s our social protection programs. The only thing is that we will start to look at multi dimensional social protection programs, productivity because we want to move from social protection to being productive as well. Then we have to look at economic activity, you know, economic activity that will be focused on two main outcomes, income per capita and an increase in human capital.  And then infrastructure development.”

Polling in Belmopan started off slowly. In the morning, our cameras struggled to capture any lines at the constituency’s four polling stations. By midday, less than forty percent of the over ten thousand voters had cast their ballots. However, by the time the polls closed at six, Belmopan recorded a sixty percent voter turnout, just shy of the nearly sixty-one percent turnout in the 2020 elections. News Five’s Marion Ali was on the ground in Belmopan on Wednesday and filed this report.

 

Cecilia Ramirez-Smith, Returning Officer, Belmopan

“There are ten thousand, three hundred and eighty-one registered voters in Belmopan and at six p.m., the voter turnout was recorded at approximately sixty percent. The number of votes counted for Ralston Frazer is two hundred and fifteen; the number of votes counted for Oscar Mira is four thousand and nine; the number of votes counted for John Saldivar is one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine. There were a total of one hundred and seventy-seven rejected ballots. I hereby declare that the duly elected candidate for the Belmopan electoral division is Oscar Mira.”

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Oscar Mira shared with News Five that his resounding victory was thanks to his strong campaign machinery and the unwavering support of Belmopan voters.

 

Oscar Mira, Area Representative, Belmopan

“The voters who came out today, man, Belmopan is the capital city and Belmopan has shown to me that they want to continue with this leadership and I must thank them from the bottom of my heart because I cannot do this alone. It is a community effort and when we involve everyone, we make sure that we get community results.”

 

Marion Ali

“What’s the first thing that you want to do when you are sworn in?”

 

Oscar Mira

“I want to make sure that we continue the work for Belmopan. There are so many great plans – planBelize 2.0 is about the future of this country and we want to make sure that we follow planBelize 2.0. That is what is guiding us in Belmopan as well.”

 

Even though the final tally showed a sixty percent voter turnout, the morning hours were slow, with voters trickling in at the four polling stations. This slow start gave UDP candidates John Saldivar and Ralston Frazer a boost of encouragement early on.

 

John Saldivar, U.D.P. Candidate, Belmopan

“Normally a low turnout does not favour the incumbent because obviously they are not bringing out their people. We are hoping that our numbers are going to hold up and right now it is so we feel very good.”

 

Marion Ali

“And how effective has your machinery been? It’s now the afternoon hours and sooner or later we’ll be getting to winding down period.”

 

John Saldivar

“I’m very satisfied with our machinery up to this point. When we look at the numbers, vise vie the PUP, we’re doing pretty good.”

 

Ralston Frazer, U.D.P. Candidate, Belmopan

“It’s slow but in my opinion, for me, this slow is good because I see my people coming out. I see them at all three polling stations in Belmopan. I see them coming out.”

 

Marion Ali

“I took a look at the turnout since seven a.m., and it’s just over thirty percent. Is that good or bad? I think from previous trends, that’s very low.”

 

Ralston Frazer

“Yeah from previous trends for the first half of the day, that is very low in my opinion. How is it working in my favour? Like I said earlier, I see them coming out at a satisfactorily good rate, so I am hoping that my eyes are not deceiving me, but that be the case, I am hopeful.”

 

When we caught up with him just past midday, Mira was confident of his victory, despite less than forty percent turnout at that point.

 

Oscar Mira

“My machinery is dynamic; my machinery is full of energy; my machinery di bring out fi we people. If you go to Salvapan you will see that we are working, we’re bringing out our people. We are looking at our data and we are right on track.”

 

In the end, Mira was thrilled with his supporters’ turnout. His vote count was double that of his two opponents combined. Marion Ali for News Five.

 

Just like in every other district, the momentum in Cayo District was set from the moment the polls opened at seven a.m. Although there were some quiet periods throughout the day, by six p.m., it was clear how the voting had gone in some divisions. The People’s United Party secured all but one seat. The exception was in Cayo West, where Jorge ‘Milin’ Espat represented the residents since 2020. The winner in Wednesday’s elections was UDP candidate Miguel Guerra. News Five’s Marion Ali reports on the outcome of the polls in the Cayo District.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Michel Chebat won his seat in Cayo North by nearly eight hundred votes over UDP candidate Dr. Omar Figueroa. Chebat promises to be more engaged with his constituents moving forward.

 

Michel Chebat, Area Representative, Cayo North

“What will certainly change is greater engagement with the people who have contributed to this victory – all these people here contributed to my victory so I think a greater level of communication with them has to take place. We have to look keenly at the needs of this community. I can tell you that in Bullet Tree for example, one of the big needs is a proper water system and I intend to deliver that over the next five years. We saw here in Cayo North and in Bullet Tree with the recent floods, the great need for streets and drains in this community and we want to deliver on that as well. I can tell you that I’m proud to be part of a government, the previous administration, that in June of this year we’ll be delivering N.H.I. to the people of the Cayo District.”

 

In Cayo Northeast, incumbent Area Representative Orlando Habet easily defeated Alberto Fernandez. Habet’s victory is especially meaningful because a low voter turnout initially caused concern. However, by the end of the day, Habet won by a larger margin than in the last election. He understands that expectations in his division will be even higher now.

 

Orlando Habet, Area Representative, Cayo Northeast

“In the beginning we thought that the poor turnout could have affected the results for us. We had anticipated a certain percentage turnout. The turnout was much lower, but true to fact, the people who supported me came out and gave me their support. I will have to seek the support, not only from the government, but I also have a strong team in my executive and in the people that I had in my ministry, if I get the same ministry, to write up project proposals for some of the projects that we want to see executed within my constituency.”

 

In Cayo Central, Alex Balona was re-elected for a second consecutive term. He is prepared to continue working to deliver on Plan Belize 2.0.

 

Alex Balona, Area Representative, Cayo Central

“There’s a lot more houses to build, there are more house lots to deliver, there is N.H.I. to deliver. We have more to do in education, in sports, and we have jobs to create for our people.”

 

The P.U.P.’s loss was suffered in Cayo West, where Jorge “Milin” Espat was defeated by the U.D.P.’s Miguel Guerra, who thanked his team.

 

Miguel Guerra, Area Representative, Cayo West

“My campaigners who worked for no money; the taxi operators who helped me without me paying them because I did not have the money for my campaign. I didn’t have it. This victory is for the people. I want to give my heartfelt appreciation to all my campaigners who up to right now have not been paid. I want to give thanks to the taxi men who said “Mike, we will work with you”. Mike Guerra won without any money without any flag on poles.”

 

Julius Espat secured his seat in Cayo South, defeating UDP candidates Dr. June Young and Antonio Samayoa. Espat told News Five that the vast size of the Cayo South constituency makes it challenging to reach everyone. However, meeting the residents was crucial for his victory. He aims to continue helping residents gain access to land and improve infrastructure.

 

Julius Espat, Area Representative, Cayo South

“Our problem was that people were telling us, “You done already so why should we come out?” So we were going house to house trying to explain to them that it’s important to voice what you want in a democracy. So we managed to convince most of the people we had pledges for, but it’s still a bit lower than the last time. I think the last time we had seventy percent turnout. This time it was close to sixty – fifty something. The issues in rural communities are predominantly land, that’s number one. Infrastructure is very important because we have a lot of rural roads. And then the basics: health, education, but land is number one.”

 

The election results in the Cayo District were determined long before midnight. Marion Ali for News Five.