Of all the accusations of irregularities mentioned in Wednesday’s U.D.P. press conference, perhaps the most intriguing is that of nepotism at the University of Belize. Today, News 5 spoke to U.B. interim president, Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis, about how it came to be that a Taiwan trained attorney, who is not a member of the Belize […]
It did not exactly come as a surprise, but the U.D.P.’s long awaited latest charges of scandal finally arrived this afternoon in the now classic form of the press conference at the Radisson. Whether you were a believer or not, it was vintage Barrow. News 5’s Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart Krohn, Reporting He described it […]
While today was supposed to belong to the U.D.P., it was the People’s United Party that may have received the afternoon’s best news. For over a week, P.U.P. operatives had been dropping hints that U.D.P. Albert candidate Marilyn Williams held a U.S. passport… and that under Belize’s constitution that fact disqualifies her from sitting in […]
Our coverage of divisional races has thus far focussed on hot contests in Belize City. But if history is any guide, some of most fiercely fought battles have taken place in the wild, wild west… and that’s were I was today. The political climate in the Cayo District, like everywhere else in Belize this week, […]
Almost one week before the polls open for nationwide general and municipal elections, the big news is that…there is no big news. Going into the home stretch leading up to the March fifth balloting, each party strongly hinted that there would be political bombshells bursting like fireworks on News Year’s eve. Instead, those in charge […]
Tired of all those political ads on your local television newscast? No comment here, but if I asked you to name your favourite spot, which one would you choose? I put that question to my colleague, Jacqueline Woods, and have to say that I agree. Jacqueline Woods, Reporting The first election he’ll be able to […]
It is his first election campaign as an incumbent Prime Minister, and coming off a twenty-six to three margin in the House of Representatives you would think Said Musa is coasting. But the Belizean electorate is a fickle one and since independence in 1981 no government has ever been elected to a second consecutive term. […]
In his interview this morning, Prime Minister Said Musa spoke at length about corruption in government, including measures his party would take to curb the practice if given another five years in power. Musa questioned the credibility of the Opposition’s zero tolerance platform, but it is a position that United Democratic Party Leader Dean Barrow […]
The incumbent People’s United Party has been stung in recent weeks by a number of allegations involving corruption in high places. Today the P.U.P. initiated a long expected counterattack, with the first jab leveled at U.D.P. chairman and Freetown candidate Doug Singh. The P.U.P. campaign is trying to place Singh as a central figure in […]
They didn’t launch their manifesto with a big splash, but the United Democratic Party’s candidates for the Belize City Council believe that their ideas and personalities will speak for themselves. Today I caught up with a few members of the slate as they prepared for the final week of the campaign. Wayne Usher, Mayoral Candidate, […]
And so as not to ignore the candidates in Belmopan and the nation’s seven towns we will roll their names and party affiliations. Please note that while there are five independent candidates running for the Belmopan City Council, none of the town council races features so much as a single independent candidate. BELMOPAN CITY COUNCIL […]
Collectively, the political contests in the nation’s seven towns and two cities can be lumped together under one heading: the forgotten elections. Those municipal races that were supposed to act as a crucial indicator for the general elections, which were thought to be coming in August, have now been relegated to a sideshow now that […]
With official corruption as the focus of its campaign, and only ten news days left until the election, the United Democratic Party has let it be known that specific accusations of scandal will be a regular feature of the party’s stretch run. Today the U.D.P. called a press conference to fire its latest salvo–this one […]
If anything has characterized the People’s United Party’s campaign this election year, it has been it’s festive atmosphere awash in blue and white, and dances set to the tune of their theme songs. And true to form, today, when the P.U.P. took to the streets of Belize City on this, Nomination Day, they lived up […]
And while nomination day activities dominated the media in Belize City, in the districts, the two main political parties were also presenting their candidates to the people. Here’s the final list of the People’s United Party candidates: in the North, Valdemar Castillo in Corozal North; Vildo Marin in Corozal Bay; Florencio Marin in Corozal South […]
It was to be the biggest political face off in the nation’s history: Prime Minister Said Musa behind one podium…Leader of the Opposition, Dean Barrow behind the other. But that debate, originally scheduled for next week, is officially off. What went wrong? Well, according to a press release issued by the organisers, the Belize Business […]
On Monday the People’s United Party threw a blue and white extravaganza to launch its election year manifesto…and today it was the U.D.P.’s turn to paint the town red. This morning I joined my media colleagues and an enthusiastic throng of party supporters to see what the freshly printed document has to offer. Janelle Chanona, […]
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Party wasted no time in trying to capitalise on the U.S. action. With Party Leader Dean Barrow already on record asking for Samuels’ resignation, it was time for the minister’s local opponents to get on his case. This took the form of a brief demonstration downtown by supporters of Samuels’ opponent […]
As for an official reaction to the Samuels affair, I raised the issue this afternoon with the P.U.P. Chairman and Deputy Leader. Vildo Marin, Chairman, People’s United Party “My personal opinion is that it won’t hurt our chances of winning in the elections none at all. I don’t know, sometimes the U.S. Embassy just does […]
His mood is relaxed and confident, but as anyone who has ever seen Dean Barrow in court, on the rostrum or debating in the House of Representatives knows, he is not afraid to go for the jugular. Today, in the wake of Monday’s P.U.P. manifesto presentation, News Director Stewart Krohn and I sat down with […]
Election manifestos in most countries are the kind of documents that are read once and promptly forgotten by voters and politicians alike. That practice was certainly true in Belize, but in recent years a funny thing happened: manifestos somehow became serious business. The turning point came in the 1993 campaign when it is widely believed […]
It was one of the first major projects announced by the P.U.P. government after the 1998 elections. And after a few delays, on Saturday the new city at mile thirty-one finally showed itself off to the public. Not only were there dozens of new houses, but also a new name. Carolyn Trench Sandiford, Consultant, Mahogany […]
About the only comfort Said Musa and the P.U.P. could take from today’s press conference by Dean Barrow was that it took place on Friday, a day when many Belizeans are more interested in happy hour than the evening news. And speaking of happy hour, that’s not a bad way to describe the mood of […]
It’s the rematch of a race fought in 1998. At that time the People’s United Party managed to take back a seat that had once been thought completely safe for the U.D.P.. What happens in Port Loyola this time around is being closely watched by observers on all sides… including News 5’s Jacqueline Woods. Jacqueline […]
It’s a controversy that threatens to be the spanner in the works of the People’s United Party’s high powered political campaign. Yesterday, the United Democratic Party emerged with allegations that government had granted a fifteen-year monopoly license on all major routes in the country to the Novelo’s bus company. The Prime Minister publicly denied the […]
