P.U.P. Going the Right Way, Says Leader John Briceño after Elections
John Briceño
The People’s United Party has won three of nine municipalities during Wednesday’s elections, including Belize City which is considered the most valuable asset of the ruling United Democratic Party, and from where six ministers sit in cabinet. Despite losing a majority of the sixty-seven seats that were vacant, the Opposition has made significant gains in the number of votes garnered. It’s enough for party leader John Briceño to openly admit that he believes the P.U.P. is headed in a positive direction, notwithstanding the overall results at the polls.
John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P.
“From our end, my end, we in the People’s United Party are very happy with the results. First of all I need to start by thanking everybody that came out to vote for both parties. I think that it once again demonstrates the maturity of the Belizean people, that we can come out and despite our differences with different parties we came out in a peaceful manner and we voted. I’m also very pleased with the, I must say that I am thankful to all the candidates that participated for both parties, especially our candidates that participated in the P.U.P. By any metrics that you take, the P.U.P. is in the right direction. We are moving ahead. We have quadrupled the amount of councilors that we have, we now have tripled the amount of councils that we are managing. If you were to look at the aggregate numbers of votes, you know, when you calculate the total that were cast between 2015 and 2018, at least the preliminary reports that I am getting there was a swing from about, the U.D.P. had about ninety-two thousand votes more than what we got in 2015. At least from the first report we’re getting, you know, it shows that we’ve got like about three thousand more votes than the U.D.P., like about ninety-five thousand. It’s a massive swing that we have acquired. So by any metrics, we are going in the right direction and I want to assure the Belizean people that we would be working very closely with all three municipalities to ensure that we deliver on what we promised and that there can be openness and transparency in how we are going to control the people’s finances in those three municipalities. The prime minister claims that he is energized by what has happened and he is ready for whatever. We are just as energized and if he is so ready then bring it on, call the elections right now, the general elections. And maybe it’s not going to be him, [maybe] Patrick. But I am told already that there’s a fight because, well John Saldivar delivered and Patrick lost, so that’s another fight that they are going to have.”
