The University of Belize has managed to persuade all four Belize City mayoral candidates to participate in a special debate which is ongoing at news time at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. Appearing on stage will be Bernard Wagner (P.U.P.), Dion Leslie (U.D.P.), Paco Smith (B.P.P.), and Ernesto Torres (Independent). According to the […]
The campaign season has been relentless with plenty mudslinging and besmirching candidates at every turn. The People’s United Party has released an ad claiming that government is spending as much as two point four million dollars in tuition for tertiary students, in exchange for votes in favor of the ruling United Party. The allegation is […]
The search continues for a new Contractor General to replace Godwin Arzu, and for a new head of the Integrity Commission to succeed Justice Marilyn Williams who has moved on to the Supreme Court. The two posts are important cogs in the oversight machine but Prime Minister Dean Barrow says the Contractor General is more […]
Mesopotamia is historically a red constituency, controlled by career politician Michael Finnegan. It is also one of the smallest electoral divisions within Belize City. Despite its size, the mobilization of supporters was in full swing today, the enduring area representative bringing out as many as stalwarts to the U.D.P. rally. Today, he shared his predictions […]
In Port Loyola, it would seem as though Area Representative ‘Boots’ Martinez’s popularity has been waning. If one were to recall the voter turnout during the 2015 general elections, it is clear that his numbers were down considerably. So does he still have what it takes to muster support on behalf of the U.D.P. Eleven […]
On the eve of nomination day, the Belize Progressive Party is charging that one of its municipal candidates in Punta Gorda Town was approached to step down as a candidate in return for payments of her bills and school fees. Councilor candidate Maria Lara says she had previously approached ranking officials of the United Democratic […]
Lara says she is disappointed by the incident, but her bosses at the B.P.P. are furious. Political leader Patrick Rogers told us via telephone this evening that the larger political parties are afraid of the Progressives as a viable political force and so have successfully poached candidates away previously. It is another symptom of what […]
This Wednesday, both major political parties are expected to take out their supporters in numbers as they head to the various offices designated for nomination centers, countrywide. There, after a vetting process by the presiding officer, it becomes official for their names to be printed on the ballots for the upcoming municipal elections on March […]
Nomination Day paves the way for Election Day. The voters list for the municipal election shows that there are one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and seventy-four persons eligible to vote, as of January tenth, 2018 – which was the final day of registration for the voters in the March elections. There are more […]
Except for Belize City where voters are casting their vote for ten councilors and a mayor, in the Capital Belmopan and the remaining municipalities, it is six councilor candidates and one mayoral to each. Chief Elections Officer Tamai reminds that voting for more than the available seats will cause the ballot to be rejected as […]
What was once whispered about has now, in some quarters, been stated openly: no money, no vote! With municipal elections two weeks away, it is open season for vote-buying or trading favors of any kind is very much. But there is a message from the business community through Senator Mark Lizarraga tonight: the monies spent […]
The People’s United Party seized on the opportunity to provide support for the disaffected tour guides and support staff in the Zone. The party selected its Belize City mayoral aspirant, Bernard Wagner, to wag the finger of disapproval at a press briefing this afternoon. If he is elected, Wagner plans to try to reverse the […]
The People’s United Party continues to ride a tidal wave of goodwill from last week’s impressive national convention in Belize City. The P.U.P.’s Bernard Wagner is quietly confident going into this nomination week. He says residents are embracing the potential of change in the form of the P.U.P. eleven, and this Wednesday, nomination day will […]
The gap between Darrell Bradley and Yolanda Schakron in the last election was significant, and one reason has been the U.D.P.’s stranglehold in the Southside constituencies. Amid reports that Collet representative and Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber has been active in nearby Lake Independence, the P.U.P. has set up its own office to capture targets […]
Nominations for all municipal candidates will be made next week Wednesday across the country. In Belize City, the political parties and independent candidates will be going over to the Elections and Boundaries Department at the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building on Mahogany Street between ten and four in the afternoon. It’s the procedure before elections that […]
While there is a new Guatemalan ambassador, another is departing the Belize Foreign Ministry. Today, Elrington confirmed that Ambassador Stuart Leslie is no longer a part of the Referendum Unit of the Ministry and has opted to move on to do political work with the Leader of the Opposition. The unit has focused on the […]
In the growing capital city of Belmopan, the municipal campaign is in full gear. Earlier, this week we caught up with the P.U.P.’s mayoral candidate Tanya Santos who wants to unseat the sitting U.D.P. mayor. Khalid Belisle is winding up his first term as mayor and is seeking re-election on March seventh. Belisle is perhaps […]
It is the only town council they control nationally, and have in whole or in part since 2012. The People’s United Party hopes to retain Orange Walk Town painting it as a model of propriety and independence in a sea of United Democratic Party control. Mayor Kevin Bernard and his team of councilors have crossed […]
The People’s United Party held a massive national convention on Sunday in Belize City, drawing a record number of supporters from the far reaches of the country and all points between. While the gathering saw representation from all thirty-one constituencies, Cayo South Area Rep Julius Espat was noticeably absent from the main stage. The deputy […]
The budget for the 2018 fiscal year is expected to be presented before the House of Representatives in early March, weeks before the start of a new financial calendar. The introduction of the General Revenue and Appropriation Bill, as the budget is formally known, is followed by a heated debate where parliamentarians weigh in on […]
The Belize City Council dissolves at the end of the month, exactly one week after nominations from political parties take place in a bid to succeed the present administration. February twenty-eighth is also the last day for Mayor Darrell Bradley to remain in office, before municipal elections on March seventh. Those two weeks will be […]
In respect of controversial renewal of Miller’s four-year contract, Mayor Bradley says that despite not agreeing on whether city administrators and directors fall under the category of C.E.O.s or permanent secretaries, all nine municipalities have agreed to place these officers on contract. Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor “That is something that all nine municipalities […]
Most of the current councilors have been serving since Zenaida Moya’s administration at City Hall. So with the transition process underway, in what state will Mayor Bradley’s successor inherit 109 North Front Street come March seventh? Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor “This council is, I don‘t want to say debt-free because no government is […]
Tanya Santos is an independent consultant in Natural Resources Management. She’s been a resident of Belmopan all her life; but these days, she is on the campaign trail for the People’s United Party. Were she to turn things around, Santos would become the first female mayor of the Capital. On March seventh, the residents of […]
Last week, there were complaints by the Maya Leaders Alliance and Toledo Alcaldes Association that government or its agents tried to coerce and intimidate Maya leaders and residents of Toledo to support their taking the Guatemalan claim to the International Court of Justice. The Belize Progressive Party today issued a statement objecting to these tactics. […]
