B.N.T.U. will keep close eye on Thursday’s proceedings

Luke Palacio

Nominations were officially tendered for the election as of a month ago but were officially submitted this afternoon to the chair of the Election Committee, Kathleen Flowers. Flowers is B.N.T.U.’s second vice president and president of the Belize District Branch, where presidential candidate Elena Smith is from. Campaign speeches will be made early on Thursday before voting commences. President Luke Palacio states that B.N.T.U. wants a clean election and will be closely monitoring for anything that smells like political interference, mentioning in particular a statement from no less than the deputy mayor of his hometown, Punta Gorda.

Luke Palacio, National President, B.N.T.U.

“We are saying, again, yes, and we said it at the beginning – that we cannot stop our members from voting; but if we are seeing something extraordinary happens tomorrow, then we will have to decide how we will deal with that particular matter. Traditionally, we know that our branches provide buses for our teachers, our members, to come to convention and vote; and if tomorrow a branch president says to us that they did not charter that particular bus then it gives credence to what we are hearing, that it is the political operatives that are sending those buses. I have seen a WhatsApp message, from the Toledo East executive, sent out by the Deputy Mayor of Punta Gorda, saying to teachers there that they are going to provide a bus to come to convention on Thursday to vote and after that they should be going to the Free Zone. Again we see this as a form of bribery, and I would condemn it even as being criminal, because you are using taxpayers’ money to be able to try to derail an organization simply because that organization has stood up for this country, and you do not want that to be perpetuated any further.”

Only members of the Union are eligible to vote.