In political news, these past several days have been used by both major political parties to pursue claims in court that various persons on the voters list ought not to be there. Today News Five’s Patrick Jones headed out to San Ignacio to see how the process was working in Cayo. Cayo North representative Salvador […]
They have both held ministerial portfolios in respective governments and in the 1993 general election the margin of victory was only one vote. Tonight, in the continuing series “Elections ’98” we focus on the contest in Collet. Remijio Montejo, P.U.P., Collet “For the P.U.P. and myself the issue is to improve the standard of living […]
In yesterday’s newscast we spoke to Opposition leader Said Musa about the report of the Commission of Inquiry which severely criticized his actions while he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. While Musa defended his performance and called the report just one more example of political witch hunting, what we neglected to include yesterday was the […]
In other political news, we take a look tonight at the major candidates in the Mesopotamia division of Belize City. U.D.P. incumbent Michael Finnegan, is facing a challenge from P.U.P. footsoldier turned candidate, Ray Lightburn. Patrick Jones reports. Michael Finnegan, U.D.P., Mesopotamia “The issue, not only in my division but throughout the country, this election, […]
The report was submitted on Monday to the Prime Minister, but according to the P.M.’s office copies will not be provided to the media until Wednesday afternoon. So all we have to go on is a government press release, which supposedly summarizes what the report has to say. “The report,” of course, is that made […]
In more news from the campaign trail, the National Alliance for Belizean Rights has released its slate of candidates for next month’s elections. Most prominent on the list is Gilda Lewis in the Albert division. Lewis will attempt to follow in the footsteps of the party’s founder and leader Philip Goldson, who is retiring from […]
Two weeks after the assault on cameraman Emil Rodriguez, at the hands of Inesita Fernandez, daughter of U.D.P. candidate Salvador Fernandez, another Cayo resident has formally lodged a complaint against a relative of a U.D.P candidate. Michael Juan, the nephew of Eduardo ‘Dito’ Juan, U.D.P Standard Bearer for Cayo Central, was questioned by San Ignacio […]
With over four thousand, four hundred voters it’s the largest constituency in Belize City. It’s two major candidates, both first timers, have been working the division for several years. Tonight as part of our continuing series on “Elections ’98” News Five’s Patrick Jones takes a look at the political progress in Port Loyola. Dolores Balderamos […]
During the last several months many Belizeans have wrestled with the question of whether they should register to vote. Others, who have registered, are still trying to decide whether or not to actually cast a ballot. On his trip to Corozal on Monday, Patrick Jones ran into a man on a mission to get every […]
The four Corozal representatives in the House, all members of the People’s United Party, today invited the press to hear their take on the upcoming elections. Patrick Jones was on hand to get the P.U.P. version of life in the north. The joint press conference hosted by the incumbent P.U.P. representatives in Corozal was to […]
One candidate is the Prime Minister, the other is mayor of the nation’s largest municipality. The P.M.’s margin of victory the last time around was only forty votes and the challenger has been working hard ever since. Tonight in our continuing coverage of “Elections ’98” we look at the showdown in Caribbean Shores. Manuel Esquivel, […]
In a piece of late breaking news the government’s Belize Information Service has just issued a press release on the Commission of Inquiry called to look into allegations of wrong doing in connection with the Economic Citizenship Programme conducted from 1989 to 1993. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the two commissioners have concluded, with exquisite timing, […]
It was not the grand televised affair envisioned by SPEAR and the Chamber of Commerce but the ninety-minute prime ministerial debate broadcast last night on Love FM was not too bad a substitute. Party leaders Manuel Esquivel and Said Musa took turns throwing punches and how many actually landed, is of course, a matter of […]
Just when we thought the election campaign couldn’t get any more interesting, we were proven wrong. Like a crab after a rainstorm, a new party has emerged from the political muck and declared “count me in”. The Belize National Party, formed just this past Sunday, is headed by Leonard Brackett. While the B.N.P. will not […]
And speaking of big announcements, the one just reaching this desk is right up there with the biggest. The official release will be published on Monday but we are reliably informed that another veteran political activist has decided to jump head first into the deep end of the electoral pool. Nicholas Pollard Senior, former labor […]
It’s a constituency that is probably the most affluent in the nation, as it includes the tourism havens of San Pedro and Caye Caulker. It is being contested by a man and a woman, who, although well known in their community, are nonetheless newcomers to the national political scene. Earlier this week the P.U.P.’s Patty […]
Four and a half weeks before Belizeans go to the polls, in the midst of what has become an even more vicious than usual election campaign, many voters are still not acquainted with the candidates and issues. With the political climate in the country as electrically charged as the Mollejon Hydro plant in a flood, […]
At almost this same stage in the 1993 election campaign the issue of aliens registering to vote became a hot one… only then it was the U.D.P. charging that the ruling P.U.P. was up to no good. Today the shoe was on the other foot as the People’s United Party called a press conference to […]
At its press conference this morning the P.U.P. also turned its attention to a matter first raised on this newscast on Monday: that is the use of outside political consultants. Producing what he said was an unsigned contract between Manuel Esquivel and the U.S. political consulting firm of Laszlo and Associates, the P.U.P.’s Godfrey Smith, […]
The N.G.O. sponsored debate promoted by SPEAR and the Chamber of Commerce may be history, but it doesn’t mean that voters will not get to hear the party leaders slug it out. Love FM has confirmed that both Manuel Esquivel and Said Musa have accepted the radio station’s offer to make a joint appearance on […]
The People’s United Party held the ninth in its series of People’s Assemblies on Friday night. The venue was Independence Hill in the nation’s capital and the subject, appropriately enough, was the role of the civil service. Patrick Jones reports. The plan outlined by Said Musa at the People’s Assembly on Friday night, would bring […]
The issue of a prime ministerial debate has finally and officially been laid to rest. A release this afternoon from SPEAR and the Chamber of Commerce announces that after months of exasperating attempts they have withdrawn their invitation to the P.U.P. and U.D.P. and will cease all efforts to organize this or any debates for […]
In related political developments, News Five has learned that the United Democratic Party has entered into negotiations with a U.S. consulting firm to provide advice for the remainder of the election campaign. It is believed that party officials met last week in Belize City with Jennifer Laslow of Laslow and Associates, a North Carolina based […]
The Westminster system of government and its electoral format of “first past the post” inherently favors the development of a strong two party system. So if you want to be involved in politics and choose not to affiliate with one of the two, your choices of making a splash are somewhere between slim and none. […]
As promised, his staff worked until midnight, while the Chief Elections Officer himself claims to have been at his desk until almost five this morning. According to C.E.O. Urban Reyes the final election lists have been printed and publicly posted, and as a courtesy to the candidates, computer diskettes have been made available to the […]
