When Will the General Election Be?

The general election has been on everybody’s mind. When will it be? Will it be held in the first half of the year or the latter half? Will the United Democratic Party (UDP) be able to put its differences aside to mount a formidable challenge against the People’s United Party (PUP)?

Prime Minister John Briceño told News 5 this morning that the election “will be more toward the first half of this year.” He stated that he has yet to decide on a specific date. Once a decision is made, the Prime Minister will be required to announce it at least a month in advance.

With the UDP in shambles, political spectators ponder if the Briceño Administration will pull off a clean sweep. It has happened twice pre-independence, and the possibility of it happening again is not nil. Hypothetically speaking, if the PUP manages to win all 31 constituencies, will the Prime Minister appoint persons from losing political parties to oversight bodies like the Elections and Boundaries Commission and push for such appointments for the three Senate seats reserved for the Opposition? Briceño answered, “Why are you wishing this on me? It would sound good, but one, I don’t think that is going to happen. We are going to fight to win all 31 seats like in every election. But, at the end of the day, we have to respect the wishes of the Belizean people, and if they should decide to give us the 31 seats, it is something that…we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”