Will there be a recall? U.D.P. and P.U.P. operatives on the campaign

At the break of the scandal, the Opposition asked Penner to resign or be recalled. Last weekend, the P.U.P. went into full gear and started the collection of signatures required to trigger a recall in the Cayo Northeast constituency. About twelve hundred signatures have been collected so far. The U.D.P. also went into motion asking voters not to support the recall, a mechanism which the prime minister credits his government for putting into law. U.D.P. ministers have been working the ground in Cayo Northeast and this weekend, it is reported that the P.M. will be personally in the area attempting to boost the sagging fortunes of Penner and to ultimately retain the U.D.P. razor-thin margin as it stands. Earlier today, we sat down with the deputy party leader of the P.U.P., Julius Espat. Espat says that in his view, the government wants the recall mechanism to fail.

Julius Espat, Deputy Leader, P.U.P.

Julius Espat

“We are of the belief that it is a law that was placed there for it not to work; the numbers show it, the ridiculous way how it was drafted. So it is the old way of doing things. Oh we gwen pan campaign; we have wah checklist. Oh I need wah banner, oh I need to talk to channel five, oh I need this; that’s their checklist. Well the government goes under pressure and the prime minister says he want reform. So they had their checklist; oh we need reform so let’s put the recall mechanism forward but people fail to realize that you can put a law in place, but the law can be worded in such a way that it cannot be utilized.  In this case it will not only kill the United Democratic Party you know, the sad thing is that it will kill the nation of Belize and that’s what we are fighting for. On the ground our movement is basically as guidance. We are not sending in our ministers or our area representatives. We are not sending in our national leaders on the ground because we believe it is the people of northeast that needs to really express themselves. That was the initial proposal.  We had a plan of approximately a month space to have this exercise done. Last week was the first time we tested it. The Northeast executive committee along with Chairman Mahmud and some of his people—we had some representatives on the ground too—they went out on Saturday. On Saturday and a part of Sunday, we garnered approximately one thousand two hundred people. And what we are doing is the second phase; we are now analyzing those signatures, comparing them to the electoral list—making sure that we verify that the names coincide, if the signatures coincide, if the pictures are there; having JPs being present when these people sign it. So we are going through that process which is an arduous and lengthy one. Over this weekend, the exercise will continue again with a different focus because we are facing the red demons on the ground.”