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Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceno, addressing a victory rally. (Photo via CMC)
BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Prime Minister John Briceño led his ruling People’s United Party (PUP) to a resounding victory in Wednesday’s general election that also saw the demise of Opposition Leader, Moses “Shyne” Barrow, whose main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) had contested the polls as a divided group.
“Belize for all, long live Belize,” said Prime Minister Briceño, who had called the election nine months ahead of the constitutional deadline.
Preliminary results show that the PUP had won 26 of the 31 seats in the election, the same as it had done when it won the election in 2020, with the remaining five seats split within the UDP and its faction, the Alliance for Democracy.
Prime Minister Briceno, who comfortably won the Orange Walk Central seat for an eighth term, said the results were a resounding affirmation of Belize’s struggle for independence and its constitutional freedoms.
He had earlier told reporters that he was elated by is own victory.
“I make this solemn promise to them that I will never betray them, that I will continue to work for them as best as I can, every single day, because I’ve always said its a privilege and an honor to be Prime Minister, but I am beholden to the people of Orange Walk Central because without them I cannot be where I am,” he said to applause.
Before any vote had been cast, the PUP’s Anthony Mahler and Henry Charles Usher had won their seats uncontested and were declared winners on nomination day.
Briceño told the victory rally that this collective demonstration of democracy sends a clear message to the world that Belize remains capable of free and fair elections and extended his gratitude to every PUP candidate, campaign committee, and supporter, acknowledging that whether they won or fought valiantly, each played a crucial role in securing this historic victory.
“Tonight we celebrate, but tomorrow the work begins anew,” he said, as he outlined his vision for “Plan Belize 2.0.”
Briceño said that the new plan will entail a thorough review of policies and programmes affecting the lives of Belizeans, with a focus on creating more high-paying jobs, advancing economic transformation, improving education and healthcare, increasing access to housing, and taking a firm stance against lawbreakers. He also pledged to implement measures to mitigate rising living costs.
During his address, Prime Minister Briceño paid personal tribute to his family, thanking them for their support over the years, specifically acknowledging the exemplary work of campaign manager Jaime, whom he described as possibly the best in the country since 1993.
He ended his address with remarks reaffirming his commitment to the people of Belize.
Barrow, who failed to hold on to the Mesopotamia constituency which was won by Lee Mark Chang of the Alliance for Democracy, a UDP faction, said “the people have spoken; congratulations to Lee Mark Chang, he’s now the new area representative of Mesopotamia, and I wish him well”.
Barrow said that the voter turnout at 61.5 per cent was a clear reflection of the public’s sentiment.
“I was confident; that was the interaction I was having with the people, but they made a decision to go in another direction, and I respect that,” he said.
Chang’s victory marks a historic moment for the constituency and Belize as a whole. Chang’s win against Barrow had made him the first Belizean-Chinese to secure a seat in the House of Representatives.
He was part of Tracy Panton’s Alliance for Democracy slate of 13 candidates.
“We need to remove the ‘cancer,’” he had said on a television programme prior to the polls, referring to Barrow, whom he had accused of leaving voters disillusioned with unmet promises.
“The people are realising they have been bamboozled.”
While Barrow suffered defeat in the election, Panton was re-elected for a third term as the area representative of the Albert constituency.
Barrow has since signalled his intention to step down as UDP leader.
“I certainly will resign effective once we have a national convention to elect a new leader. Obviously you can’t be a leader of the United Democratic Party once you’re not a member of the House, and I would not want to be appointed as a senator or anything to hold on to the leadership,” he said, adding “the people have spoken here”.
The elections was monitored by a 12-ember observer team from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Chief of Mission, Maricarmen Plata, said the team had been deployed across the country, gathering feedback from various constituencies.
“We have the team deployed in different parts of the country, so everybody has been observing and letting us know the feedback of the different constituencies.
“ We have seen a very calm election,” she added.
One of the ongoing concerns raised by previous OAS observer missions had been electoral redistricting, which has yet to be implemented. Plata confirmed that the issue remains under review and will be included in the preliminary report to be released in the coming days, followed by a comprehensive final report.
“ We are reviewing, uh, the present situation of that, and that will be included also in our report. We’ve of course, uh, been asking and, and following up on our prior recommendations, and that will be included also in the report. We will issue a report at the, be at the end of the process, a preliminary report in the coming days and later on a full report. So definitely something that we’ll be looking into and reporting on.”
The Belize Peace Movement (BPM) and other advocacy groups had tried unsuccessfully to get the High Court to force the government to delay the polls, claiming that there was a need for the constitutional requirement for redistricting before any new elections.
