P.U.P. turns 61

John Briceño

On September twenty-ninth, 1950 the late Right Honorable George Price, along with other nationalists, formed the People’s United Party, the oldest political organization in Belize’s history.  The P.U.P. would go on to win numerous elections and was defeated for the first time in 1984. It was pivotal in shaping the country’s political landscape.  Sixty-one years later the party is looking towards the future within the context of the landmark achievements of the Father of the Nation.  Today his successor, John Briceño reflected on those achievements and shared with News Five the vision for the future of the Blue Machine.

John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P.

“Well certainly with the passing of the father of the nation it has allowed us to reflect and look back into the life of Mister Price and see what Mister Price represented in his time and during his era when he was leader and prime minister of this country. Mister Price always had this sense of humility and service to the Belizean people and he always had that common touch and that vision of an independent Belize. As to the future; when we look back and see when we think about where we are right now and we look at the level of poverty in this country, for the amount of natural resources that we have been blessed with, it is certainly unacceptable to have that level of poverty. We have made some fundamental changes to the constitution of the party and one of the goals of the People’s united party is to eradicate poverty. And by that we mean that we want to create a Belize where a Belizean that wants to work has access to a job and a job that will pay him a decent wage that he can take care of his family; that he can pay the education for his children; that he could be able to provide a house for the children or his family; and if they are sick, he could take care of them; and that we could move away from where the state is handing out. We as Belizeans have a sense of pride and self-worth and don’t like this whole issue of handout. The whole issue of social justice that we need to make sure that there is an ability where all of us can have equal access to opportunities; that we can look at the issue of crime; that we can deal with issues of health, education; all the issues that are etched in the mind of every citizen every single day. Am I still going to have a job today, I need a job, I want a job, I want to be able to provide for my family, but the opportunities certainly do not exist.”

On Saturday a tribute will be held by the National Party Council in honor of the Right Honorable George Price at the Belize Elementary School’s auditorium.  An exhibit at Independence Hall will be also launched on Monday to commemorate the sixty-one years of existence of the People’s United Party.