This Sunday Bird’s Isle will be the venue of the city’s last major contested political convention. The Albert Division, once the preserve of the legendary Philip Goldson and considered to be a UDP stronghold, shifted solidly to the blue column in 1998 with the election of Mark Espat. This time around, three candidates are vying […]
Judging from the banners, posters and advertisements of Tony Leslie, one would have thought that the UDP contest in Port Loyola was a one-man race. Maybe it was…but on Sunday, that man wasn’t named Leslie. Anthony “Boots” Martinez captured his second Port Loyola convention for the UDP in a very close vote. He rounded up […]
Two closely watched political conventions will be taking place this weekend in Belize City. Four contenders are vying for the PUP nomination in the Mesopotamia Division. They are Rhenae Nunez, Myrna Pandy, Philip Brackett and Kent Gabb, all seeking a chance to face incumbent UDP representative Michael Finnegan, in 2003. Meanwhile in Port Loyola, three […]
We open tonight’s newscast with a development on the political front. That news is the imminent election of a new PUP party chairman. It’s an occurrence that the Opposition will proclaim reflects a major rift in the ruling party’s hierarchy, while die-hard PUPs will sluff it off as just more evidence of the party’s vibrant […]
As meetings of the House of Representative go, this one had something for everyone: a number of important bills, spirited but not uncivilised debate and a new Speaker who, although technically a rookie, appears to be running things like a pro. Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting “The House meeting started with former president of the Senate, Elizabeth […]
With two juicy political issues in the form of a violent protest in Orange Walk and a less than glowing report from the I.M.F., the Opposition United Democratic Party would not be doing its job if it didn’t try to capitalise on those events. At a press conference this morning, the top brass of the […]
While the Opposition leader had to be careful not to come down too heavily on the security forces he once commanded, there were no such constraints on former Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel. No stranger to governmental economics, the man who spent the two terms as Minister of Finance told the press that an I.M.F. report […]
The United Democratic Party continued to present candidates seeking to be standard bearers in the next general elections. This morning, at a press conference at party headquarters, Glen Leslie was unveiled as a UDP aspirant in the Lake Independence division. Leslie, a businessman and lecturer in U.B.’s engineering department, is a newcomer to politics. If […]
In political news the UDP has nominated a familiar face to contest the Dangriga constituency in the next general election. Russell “Chiste” Garcia, who held the seat from 1993 to 98, but was then defeated by current PUP representative Dr. Ted Aranda, finished first out of five candidates at the Saturday convention. He collected two […]
The press conference was called to discuss a matter of importance to our national sovereignty and leader of the Opposition Dean Barrow displayed the kind of righteous political indignation that has become his trademark. Prime Minister Said Musa, according to Barrow, had lied to the nation by signing and ratifying a controversial treaty with the […]
While the Leader of the Opposition claimed to be dropping a bombshell, Attorney General Godfrey Smith believes that the allegation is one more instance of much ado about nothing. Godfrey Smith, Attorney General “I can’t see how Mr. Barrow could be talking about it being done in secrecy and I say that for two reasons: […]
It was buried deep in a press release from Cabinet, but any confusion was quickly dispelled when the Belize Times hit the streets a few minutes later. After over fifteen years in the passport business the Government of Belize is finally going to call it quits. According to the official newspaper of the People’s United […]
The People’s United Party has a new standard bearer for the Dangriga constituency. In the convention held on Sunday Sylvia Flores received seven hundred and sixty votes compared to two hundred and fifty-six for Ivan Ramos and fifty-two for Anthony Adderley. Flores, who currently serves as Speaker of the House and is a former mayor […]
Politics marches on as three nominating conventions were held over the weekend, two for the People’s United Party and one for the United Democratic Party. All were hotly contested. In Cayo West, one of only three divisions not held by the PUP, Kendall Mendez was elected as PUP standard bearer. He received eight hundred and […]
One local talk show has dubbed him the “Fresh Prince of Pickstock”, but after one of the most grueling, competitive and expensive convention races in recent memory, Godfrey Smith is anything but fresh. Both Smith and his opponent, Bobby Usher, are well liked, well educated, well financed and well-connected PUP operatives. But in the end […]
If you were anywhere around the Pickstock division on Belize City’s near northside this week you would have reason to believe that a national election was imminent. Banners line the streets, colourful posters cover every inch of public space and roving bands of campaign workers rampage through the constituency’s streets and alleys like army ants […]
It’s almost three weeks since the People’s United Party, in a highly controversial race between three well known candidates, selected its standard bearer for the Collet Division. Today the United Democratic Party had a much simpler task as it endorsed twenty-two year old school teacher Patrick Faber as its unopposed nominee to contest the upcoming […]
As recently as Friday, when reporting on the loss of his job as the UDP’s mouthpiece, we described Delroy Cuthkelvin as a man unable to find his niche. Today Cuthkelvin reinvented himself and the UDP pulled a political shocker by announcing that not only is the propagandist supporting the party, but he will seek its […]
The donation of a computer in the Pickstock division should come as no surprise during this season of heightened political activity. Bobby Usher is locked in a tense battle with Attorney General Godfrey Smith over who will be the PUP candidate to contest the 2003 general elections in Pickstock. Coming on its heels of accusations […]
The government today released more information on its project to bring Belize into the computer age and at the same time kick our favourite telecom monopoly where it hurts. A government press bulletin says that the Ministry of Education has launched its effort to train teachers to use the five thousand computers that it is […]
Long anticipated elections were today held in Guyana and while the polls have closed, counting is expected to go on well into the night. Representing Belize on the CARICOM observer mission is Chief Elections Officer Myrtle Palacio. The team monitored the preparation for the polling, the voting itself and will also assess the outcome and […]
He was the UDP government’s mouthpiece for much of its last term in office, but following the party’s landslide defeat in 1998, former journalist Delroy Cuthkelvin has just not been able to find his niche. After an aborted flirtation with the PUP in the form of a cushy job at the Arts Council, Cuthkelvin seemed […]
Yesterday’s marathon budget debate in the House of Representatives produced some moments of high drama, but as anyone present in the gallery or listening on the radio could attest, there were also some interludes of humour. Using tapes provided by the government press office, we’ve put together a few minutes of comic relief. The compilation […]
It happens every year with the regularity of rice and beans for Sunday dinner or Jim Reeves on Love FM. This year’s debate of the budget presented on February twenty-third ran true to form: long and contentious. Needless to say, the plan that the government found so solidly full of promise was characterized by the […]
It was one of the most anticipated and bitterly contested conventions of the current political season. News 5’s Jose Sanchez sought out the winners and losers on the morning after. Jose Sanchez, Reporting The results are official and Remijio Montejo will once again bear the PUP standard in Collet. But the race was not without […]
