P.U.P. nominates candidates for municipal elections…
It is two weeks away from the elections in all nine municipalities and by agreement the political parties nominated their candidates at different times in the day. While the crowds were small, there was plenty energy to go around and the horses are now officially at the starting gate, ready to bolt. Sixty-seven seats are up for grabs on the March fourth poll. Marion Ali reports from Belize City, considered the center of political power and where the P.U.P. was first to nominate their hopefuls.
Marion Ali, Reporting
At the kick-off point at the Belize City Centre compound the crowd did not number to more than two hundred by our own estimation. But however small, the crowd was a lively bunch – some shaking their heads or parading to the latest P.U.P. political hits. By the time it had rounded the corner and sprawled into Mahogany Street just a block away from the City Centre, it did grow to around three hundred. At the halfway point, the P.U.P. party leader, John Briceño, joined in the nomination day bash.
John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P.
“The People’s United Party has always been a party of social justice, a party that continues to work to eradicate poverty, to help those that need most and we believe that as we continue to reorganize our party, start from the bottom up, so that Belizeans, our party supporters can feel that they have something at stake.”
Marion Ali
“Do you think that the P.U.P. has had enough time to redeem itself since the last elections?”
John Briceño
“Well, what we’ve been doing is that we have had one year of a U.D.P. central government and the people of this country are seeing that central government, the direction that they’re taking is not the one that the people expected. In every municipal body, every single U.D.P. controlled municipal body has failed. Belize City is no exception. Presently, what we have been doing is the base of the P.U.P. is coming back. We have been getting united, getting together because we know that the only way we can best serve the people of this country is by serving them at the municipal bodies or at the national level. Right now it’s the municipal elections so we’re going to fight hard and we’re going to fight for every single seat and try to once again, win the confidence of the Belizean people.”
Marion Ali
“The people wont vote you in on the demerits of your opponent, they will vote you in on the merits of your party. What are the merits of the new P.U.P.?”
John Briceño
“Well, we as a party, what we’ve been doing is we’ve been going back to the base. We’ve been becoming a part of inclusion, letting the people understand that this party is here to serve; to serve all Belizeans, to serve this country and that we have the people with the ideas, we have the people with the ability.”
One of those people in whom the party has cast all its confidence is its Mayoral candidate, Doctor Cecil Reneau, who said he won’t promise the moon. He’ll stick to the basics and just offer his fellow city residents a cleaner, more comfortable environment.
Dr. Cecil Reneau, P.U.P. Mayoral Candidate
“They want to ride on better streets, community wants cleaner drains. They want a healthier city, they want a city that is vibrant and conducive to investment. They want a planned city, they want a city that is future oriented to allow for new people coming in to live in the city. That forms part of the seven points of our agenda.”
Newcomers, Robert Cadle Junior and Dorla Vaughn also share in those objectives.
Dorla Vaughn, P.U.P. Candidate, CITCO
“We want to deal with all the issues, the crime, the streets, the drains.”
Marion Ali
“The council is broke though. How are you going to deal with that?”
Dorla Vaughn
“We made an agreement to cut our allowance in half. And by cutting our allowance in half, we’ll be saving two hundred and forty thousand dollars every year. We could create jobs and hire more people so we could get the job done.”
Robert Cadle Junior, P.U.P. Candidate, CITCO
“We have the bad streets and the drains right. We have a millionaire system which we cannot use right now because of this street right here, the drains. We can put all of those drains into a system so it can flow properly.”
Veteran P.U.P. candidate, Adrian “Danny” Madrid, has been there before, several times and he feels he has the know-how to get things done with his younger comrades.
Danny Madrid, P.U.P. Candidate, CITCO
“Everyday people are painting the streets, they are picking up garbage. Why couldn’t they do it three years ago? That should have been a continued work that they should have been doing. It’s too late now, I believe it’s too late.”
Marion Ali
“You’re an old soldier, as I mentioned. You served under the old P.U.P., you’re now aspiring for office under the new P.U.P. How can people look at you, as one of the old P.U.P.’s or one of the new ones?”
Danny Madrid
“I think people will look at me as a true P.U.P., old or new, it doesn’t matter.”
Former P.U.P. Minister, Jose Coye, who was out to witness the event, believes that voters have matured to a point of higher demands.
Jose Coye, Former P.U.P. Minister
“I sense clearly that the people want us to move away from the old politics of just accusing each other of wrong doings and corruption. I think what they want is serious management of City Hall.”
And because people, by virtue of the past election results, also demanded a serious make-over within the party, P.U.P. Freetown Area Representative, Francis Fonseca, felt it’s time to cast petty politics aside and address the issues.
Marion Ali
“The red government and the blue Council, should that be the case you don’t think would pose a problem?”
Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Area Rep., Freetown
“I think people have seen through that. People understand that when they elect officials, whether at the national or at the municipal level, the elect them because they believe that they are the best ones to serve their needs. And they expect the Belizean people now have reached a level of maturity where they expect our leaders to work together. They demand that we work together and it’s not always easy, you’re right. It’s not always easy, but they are expecting that if they elect a P.U.P. City Council, they expect and in fact demand that the U.D.P. national government work along with that City Council and support that City Council because after all we all live here in the city. The prime minister is a resident of Belize City; you have six ministers of government who are from Belize City. So they have a vested interest in seeing Belize City improve and function more efficiently and effectively.”
But was the size of the crowd we first spoke about discouraging?”
John Briceño
“I’m told by the last numbers they’ve been giving us about three hundred people and these are three hundred people that are prepared to show their colors and they are prepared to come out here and show that they are fully behind the People’s United Party and fully supportive of Chubby Reneau and the ten councilor candidates of the P.U.P.”
Marion Ali
“But you were anticipating more than this or…?”
John Briceño
“No, no, no, not at all. What we’re been doing is that we’ve just been asking our rank and file, our strong supporters to come out. Monday people are working, it’s the beginning of the week. But I’m quite excited because the people that were here were very enthusiastic, very energetic.”
Cecil “Chubby” Reneau
“These are party loyalists, faithful, it’s not a rent-a-crowd. They are here because they support the principles of the People’s United Party. We have it properly organized and we are represented from all our different constituencies within the city.”
Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.
The other candidates vying on the PUP slate are: Keith Acosta, Marvin Ottley, Ernesto Torres, Jacqueline Welch, Roberto Ortiz, Maria Todd and Alberto Vellos.
