The People’s United Party previously held five seats and following Wednesday’s election, now claims a total of twenty-six, including eleven in Belize City. The United Democratic Party’s shocking loss here in the Old Capital may not so much an indictment of the previous Darrell Bradley city council, as it is perhaps a failure to maintain […]
Following Wednesday’s momentous municipal elections, Prime Minister Dean Barrow called a press conference this afternoon that was chock full of news and analysis ahead of Friday’s budget presentation. We’ll have more on that later on. But first, while the United Democratic Party retained six of nine municipalities, the People’s United Party won three and scored […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow readily admits that the loss of the Belize City Council is a heavy blow to his United Democratic Party, and not one that will be easy to get over. But speaking as much to his supporters, as to the press, he encouraged the party not to lose heart, nor to forget […]
U.D.P. Belize City mayoral candidate Dion Leslie suffered a stunning defeat on Wednesday. The People’s United Party slate, led by political newcomer Bernard Wagner, dealt the ruling party a staggering blow, trouncing them by eleven seats to none at City Hall. Today, we caught up with the beaten politician who magnanimously conceded the loss to […]
Leslie was personally endorsed by both former Mayor Darrell Bradley and many of the upper echelons of his party. His victory at the ITVET grounds seven months ago over Philip Willoughby seemed pre-ordained. But it makes Wednesday’s loss sting all the more, and so Prime Minister Dean Barrow singled out Leslie among the losing candidates […]
Steady efforts by area representatives Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington and Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez in the Pickstock and Port Loyola constituencies, did not prevent the United Democratic Party from losing considerable grounds in both electoral divisions. While Martinez has declared that he will not offer himself for candidacy in the next general elections, Elrington is optimistic that […]
Minister and Port Loyola area representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez remains under a cloud of accusations concerning his relationship with former caretaker and alleged contractor Kirk Lamb, who says he used Lamb’s credit union account to funnel payments for alleged contracts with the Ministry of Works. Martinez has denied these charges. He is also accused, a […]
Discussions continue at news time in San Pedro, where on Wednesday night the People’s United Party felt they had claimed yet another scalp from the ruling United Democratic Party. But as the night progressed, it was the U.D.P. seven led by incumbent Mayor Daniel Guerrero who narrowly reported as victorious. This afternoon there was an […]
As of news time, a legal challenge to the results is pending. The Elections and Boundaries Department made note in a press release this evening that the result given this morning is not the official result. To be made official, the official forms must be handed in by the Returning Officer and the figures checked […]
But if it were Prime Minister Dean Barrow making the decision on a potential recount, the answer would be no. The United Democratic Party leader made a two-pronged attack on the idea of any alteration to the results at the start of today’s press conference. One is that, as already noted by Elections and Boundaries, […]
In Orange Walk Town, the home of the P.U.P. Leader, John Briceño, victory was predictable. But the popularity of Mayor Kevin Bernard would give the party a further boost and secure a third term for him. The numbers in favour of the P.U.P. slate would swell in the range of two to one and in […]
Aside from winning the boxes in Orange Walk North for the first time, the P.U.P. would also win in the Orange Walk East constituency, which was won handsomely in the last general elections by Elodio Aragon Junior. The Prime Minister acknowledged the P.U.P. strength up north. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “P.U.P. won a handsome […]
We go to Corozal, where after long years of a drought, victory was sweet for the People’s United Party. The team led by Rigo Vellos would go on to reverse a U.D.P. stronghold. As early as nine o’clock on Wednesday night, the unofficial results were indicating that the Opposition Party had made serious in roads […]
The nation’s capital Belmopan provided less political drama than other municipalities and therefore an expected result. The United Democratic Party and incumbent Khalid Belisle earned a comfortable victory over their People’s United Party rivals and the Belize Progressive Party. News Five’s Aaron Humes has the highlights. Aaron Humes, Reporting In Belmopan, it was all […]
The red hills of Cayo also remained red on Election Day. Both San Ignacio/Santa Elena and Benque Viejo del Carmen returned a full slate of United Democratic Party members as mayors and councilors. Earl Trapp got another term as mayor of the Twin Towns; he defeated former mayor Marconi Matus. And in Benque, Gerardo Marconi […]
A split council in Dangriga, where the U.D.P. has a majority hold, but the P.U.P. made a small mark with one councilor candidate. Both main political parties faced off in the culture capital, but there were two other candidates on the ballot. Mayoral candidate Chris Lewis and Winston Francisco offered themselves for office under a […]
The U.D.P. also retained their hold on the Punta Gorda Town Council. In the southernmost municipality, three political parties contested the elections. The U.D.P. led by mayoral candidate Ashton McKenzie; the P.U.P. led by the Carlos Galvez and the B.P.P. led by Francilia Williamson. The U.D.P. emerged victorious in its bid for the municipal seats […]
The People’s United Party now claims three of nine municipalities, including Belize City. With a United Democratic Party central government, how will they fare off for the next two years? That’s what we asked Prime Minister Barrow at his press conference earlier today. While he admits that Belize City, Orange Walk and Corozal will continue […]
On this eve of municipal elections, attention is once again being drawn to allegation of the misuse of government resources to support the ruling political party. On Monday night in Punta Gorda Town, the United Democratic Party hosted a rally featuring Prime Minister Dean Barrow as guest speaker. There was a motorcade into the southernmost […]
Voting starts at seven o’clock across the country on Wednesday morning. Thousands of registered voters will cast their votes to determine the sixty-seven candidates that will lead the two city councils and seven town councils across the country. The municipal elections are being fought aggressively by both parties. In the City, the U.D.P. has been […]
At his press conference today, Briceño made a last appeal to voters to exercise their constitutional rights to determine the leaders of the towns and city councils across the nation. Briceño says that the election will be a referendum on crime and corruption. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “I think it has already turned into […]
Tonight, Minister of Human Development Anthony “Boots” Martinez remains in boiling hot water as scandals continue to erupt around him. New information shows that this week he personally approved almost fifty thousand dollars, processed through the Government’s SmartStream system, as payment for seven individuals. The largest payment was of eight thousand, three hundred dollars. The […]
As he announced on Monday, Opposition Leader John Briceño met with the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. The Chamber has complained of being frozen out of discussions with the government as a social partner on the forthcoming Budget. It has raised concerns of how the government will address its economic plans and […]
On Thursday, another pre-election exercise was observed: the meeting hosted by the Election and Boundaries Department and returning officers of the nine municipalities being contested on March Seventh. For two hours at this year’s designated counting station, the ITVET on Freetown Road, returning officer Colin Griffith briefed candidates of both parties and their support machines […]
Briceño, himself a former Lands Minister, says the seventy-one million figure paid out for land compensation is more than three times the amount paid out under his Ministry in eight years in charge. As for why the land was taken back, Briceño says there were separate issues at play. But he notes that none of […]
