John Briceño Becomes Prime Minister of Belize
John Briceño was sworn in as the fifth Prime Minister of Belize in Belmopan. He is also the first PM that is not from Belize City, but hails from the Orange Walk Central division. It has been long in coming; today, Briceño was calm and resolute, having achieved one of the greatest political victories with the P.U.P. – crushing U.D.P. strongholds and winning by huge margins around the country. This morning, Briceño took the oath; family, friends and supporters came out to congratulate the leader, promising to usher in a new era and transform government, making it more accessible and accountable. Here is Hipolito Novelo with a report.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I, John Briceño, do swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Belize and will uphold the constitution and the law and that I will conscientiously, impartially and to the best of my abilities discharge my duties as Prime Minister and do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill will so help me god.”
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
And with that Prime Minister John Briceño was officially sworn in into office by the Governor General. After three terms out of office, the People’s United Party has formed the government crushing the United Democratic Party in Wednesday’s elections. PM Briceño made history, becoming the first Prime Minister representing a division outside of Belize City.
And as he was sworn in, his supporters gathered inside the Belize House compound in Belmopan. The Orange Walk Central Area Representative greeted his supporters at the entrance before making his way up the hill with his wife Rosanna and children. His close family and friends were part of the celebrations. Area Representatives such as Cordel Hyde, Julius Espat, and Kevin Bernard were present for Briceño’s swearing in. And after that was done, Briceño shared his first word as Prime Minister.
John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I am lost of words as to how I can really and truly express my feelings at this moment, feelings of gratitude first to our creator, our God and also to my family, to our colleagues and standard bearers and to the people of Belize. The Governor General said it best that God speaks through his people and the Belize people have spoken yesterday.”
And the message was loud and clear. The People’s United Party won twenty six seats, a landslide victory. The margins were huge. The United Democratic Party won five seats, mostly in Belize City.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“And as such we will respect the decision of the Belizean people. As of today, we are no longer P.U.P. standard bearers but we are representatives of the people. We are a government of the people of Belize. And I want to assure everyone that we are going to be an open, accountable, and accessible government for the people of Belize.”
Under Briceño’s leadership, the P.U.P. managed to successfully convince the people of Belize in their “Everybody Fi Win” slogan and in the plans and goals set out in the party’s BelizePlan manifesto. Briceño and the P.U.P. is taking over government during a challenging time. The COVID-19 pandemic has crippled the economy, affecting tens of thousands of Belizeans and the floods have made the matter worse. But Briceño is confident that his party will revive the economy.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It is an awesome feeling but at the same time when you feel the burden of the office it is also very humbling to realize that this nation is depending on myself as Prime Minister and our colleagues who were elected yesterday as representative. I think it will take some time to sink in but right now we are happy. We are elated. We are humble by the confidence that the Belizean people have given us.”
Reporting for News Five, Hipolito Novelo.
