Is anyone prepared to give us the BZ version of CNN's Wolf Blitzer making an "early call"?
I'm assuming that someone is conducting "exit polls", since there is no alcohol being served.

I went just before lunch and there wasn't many people there at all. I breezed in and breezed out in two minutes and there wasn't the groups of people hanging around outside trying to sway my vote like the last election. Very Mellow.
I bet I know who's going to win though!

Now if someone can tell me how to get this bloody ink off my finger!!

There's a couple of hundred people hanging around now. The interesting thing I noted were all the people (of voting age) around town wearing red or blue shirts but no ink on their fingers.

I've tried a couple of different solvents just to tone down the colours but nothing seems to work.

I managed to get the purple ink off by soaking my finger in rubbing alcohol.

But the iodine is not budging. I have resigned myself to having a brown finger for a few days - yuck, very unattractive.

Too late now but if you put olive oil on your fingers before going to vote...the ink will wash right off with soap and water.

Amanda, If it doesn't wash off by Sunday, I'd stay away from the Palappa Bar if I were you.

For those of us out of the country - is there a web site where we can get some election results?

got my big ears on. i'll post what i hear

Signs are coming down already.

whose signs?

from a friend

looks like UDP. just ran into a few big PUP's who didn't sound too happy. Counting starts soon.

Are you saying that the UDP is heading it? I'm hearing Love FM online here in Germany and it sounds that some PUP's are already going home in a town in the mainland.

love fm:
San Pedro 7:30pm update

4,049 voters turned out in San Pedro which is apart of the Belize Rural South constituency. The number which showed up at the polls today represents 74% f voters in that division.

Cayo South 7:30 update

Question

How do you think the redistricting of the constituencies will affect the number of votes you get?

Ramon Witz, standard bearer for the United Democratic Party for Cayo South:

“I don’t think that it will affect us any at all…I am happy with the turn out and don’t believe it [redistricting of constituencies] will affect us any at all.”

early guess is udp in my book. but i ain't counting ballots just taking the temperature. informal poll.

Weather may be a factor in Belize elections
Thursday, 07 February 2008
Belizeans voted under stormy skies on Thursday.

Long lines were observed at polling stations even as heavy rains threatened to affect the flow of voters throughout the day.

Meteorological officials say a cold front had become stationary over the Yucatan Peninsula and would dump showers mainly over the northern and inland areas of the country.

"I'm a little worried about the weather," Opposition Leader Dean Barrow told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) just before casting his ballot.

"The forecasters had told us we would have a good day; that rain was only to be expected in the late afternoon and that's certainly how it had turned out.

"There is always the question of mobilisation when the weather is as it is now, but that apart I'm still extremely confident, still certain that the people of Belize have made up their minds, the dye is cast and the United Democratic Party (UDP) will record a great victory," Barrow added.

The UDP, which has been in opposition since 1998, is seeking to unseat the Said Musa-led People's United Party which is seeking an unprecedented third straight term in office.

"I am very optimistic about the outcome," Musa told CMC, but he too was concerned about the unstable weather and how it would affect the turn out of voters.

"The weather is a little unkind today, but our people have been coming out.

We just want to make sure that we get the majority overall.

"I still believe, despite the inclement weather that people will come out and vote because this election, there has been a lot of enthusiasm, particularly over the last two months. The energy level has been very high, the moment has been strong for the People's United Party and I feel very confident."

There are 157,000 eligible voters, and a record 93 candidates vying for the 31 seats in the House of Assembly.

In addition to the vote for the parliamentary representatives, there is also a referendum ballot determine if the electorate favoured an elected senate.

The polls are closed at 6:00pm local time (8:00pm ECT) and the count is scheduled to start two hours later.

Election officials say a result should be known by midnight, local time.

The polls are now closed in Thursday's general election in Belize.

A record 93 candidates have been vying for the 31 seats at stake in Parliament.

The election will determine whether the incumbent People's United Party led by Prime Minister Said Musa will be returned to office for a third term or whether it will be victory for Dean Barrow of the opposition United Democratic Party.

Acting Chief Election officer, Ruth Maine said the turn out was slow this morning.

"The process has been quite smooth except for some hitches here and there. We haven't has any major concerns since the polls open this morning," she said.

I think you have a very excellent and hopefully accurate guess. I feel it will be Red this year.

4,049 voters turned out in San Pedro which is a part of the Belize Rural South constituency. The number which showed up at the polls today represents 74% of voters in that division.

Caye Caulker- 521 voters 80.53%
San Pedro- 3528 voters 73.15%

Division Total 4049 74.02%
_________________________

It looks all over. The opposition UDP looks to have absolutely swept into power. Early results are not even close in some areas with some polling stations around the country giving the UDP a 2:1 and even one or two with a 3:1 advantage over the ruling PUP.

Early returns from the Fort George division of Belize City, Prime Minister Musa's division, show that even he is in a dog fight to keep his seat.

I expect Junior Heredia to keep his seat here in Belize Rural South (San Pedro/Caye Caulker) by a country mile.

I'm off to bed now, it doesn't even look an exciting election night.

i agree. Boots looks to be in good shape (Port Loyola)....

FORT GEORGE, PICKSTOCK, PORT LOYOLA UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (11:00 PM)

Fort George Division

Incumbent PUP party leader Said Musa is leading with approximately 630 votes and UDP candidate George Gough has 612 votes.

Pickstock Division

Unconfirmed reports indicate that UDP candidate Sedi Elrington is leading on all five boxes.

Port Loyola Division

Unofficial final vote count indicate 1,924 votes for UDP candidate Anthony Boots Martinez, PUP candidate Oscar Rosado received 554 votes and VIP candidate Erwin X received 122 votes.

Love FM has called 9 divisions for UDP and 1 for PUP.
The nine divisions that Love Fm has called in favor of the UDP are:

Caribbean Shores
Pickstock
Queens Square
Mesopotamia
Collet
Port Loyola
Corozal SW
Bze Rural South

the one PUP divsision is:

Albert

===================
from a friend

I spent most of the day driving around Belize City and pounding the
pavement - must have worn down my heels a lot, grateful I did a hard
run a few days ago after a month of inactivity. I ran into several
friends I had not seen in many years.

Most folks are reluctant to say how they will vote, fear of
victimization or bodily harm from the P.U.P and this is
understandable. But somehow folks open up to me and the vibes I have
is that the P.U.P. are headed for the woodshed tonight - at least in
the old capital..

Swampy City, thanks to P.U.P. machinations, has 3 more seats than it
deserves in terms of population distribution. So it is easier to start
a trend start breaking out there.

This is so primarily because the Prime Minister's Constituency at
3,000 voters is the smallest in the nation, purposefully created and
maintained that way to make for a malleable and easy to control seat.

I am not without sin as I worked as an adviser in that area the first
election for Said (when he lost) and the second when we won. Pickstock
is another constituency that does not deserve to exist, as again, it
is an artificially small division sculpted for the sister of the Rt.
Hon. George Price (Hon. Jane Usher), to be subsequently passed on to
Mr. Price after he was run out of Caribbean Shores by Derek Aikman.
The seat was supposed to be passed on to Said's brother-in-law Bobby
Usher to keep it in the family but was snatched up by Godfrey Smith
who later rebelled against Ralph Fonseca and his Prime Minister.

I met by accident a high ranking member of the P.U.P. - mean REAL high
ranking I've known for 30 years. This person was headed out to vote
and was seeing Red. He poured out a litany of F*** ups the P.U.P. has
been involved which have hurt this individuals family and and friends.
Some of the peccadilloes I already knew, but I learnt of a few new
ones that had me thinking how shameless for a party to be screwing
some of their die hard supporters and financiers to help a very tight
insider circle of cronies.

The problem with today's P.U.P. this individual tole me is a tiny
inner circle controlled by a man who is the defacto Prime Minister and
which led to the first cracks in the party starting with the departure
of Jorge Espat some seven years ago, and culminating with the
rebellion of some of the best ministers in that party a couple years
ago.

I think the young people and an educated and independent middle class
are marking the difference coupled with the Internet. The SPEAR poll
recall showed that most folks who said their life had improved, said
it was through their own efforts.

The faces of the blues that I saw were worried and they were sweating
more than they should.

In Fort George I said it before, George Gough is no sacrificial lamb
and this seat should be watched very carefully. Four years ago I told
George it would be almost impossible to throw Said out of the ring.
But that was before the monumental corruption and scandals that
erupted afterwards. So I MAY have to eat humble pie on that one.

So I am just back and tuning in to see some of the early trends but
from the cheap seats up here it looks like a sea of Red. A landslide for the Red.

ALBERT & CARIBBEAN SHORES (10:40 PM)

Albert Division

According to Mark Espat and unofficial results he has won all six boxes with over 600 votes.

Caribbean Shores

Unofficial reports state that UDP standard bearer Carlos Perdomo received 171 votes and incumbent PUP candidate Joe Coye received 107 votes.

BELMOPAN UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (10:30 PM)

In the first ballot box UDP candidate John Saldivar received 177 votes, PUP candidate Rolando Zetina got 113 votes and VIP candidate Paul Morgan received 27 votes. Moreover, in the second ballot box, John Saldivar received 221 votes, Rolando Zetina with 180 votes and Paul Morgan got 40 votes.

COROZAL SOUTH WEST UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (9:45 PM)

Unconfirmed results for polling station #51 at Santa Clara RC School indicated that from a total of 1,951 votes cast today, PUP candidate, Greg Garcia got 766 votes, and incumbent area representative UDP candidate Gabriel Martinez is leading with 1185 votes in the Corozal South West Division.

ORANGE WALK CENTRAL UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (9:00 PM)

Polling area #61 in Orange Walk Central, boxes A-K are in favor of incumbent area representative for PUP’s Johnny Briceno with an unofficial total of 261 votes. UDP standard bearer Rosendo Urbina 224 votes. Box L-Z, UDP standard bearer Rosendo Urbina is leading unofficially with 262 votes, while incumbent Johnny Briceno has 208 votes unofficially.

BELIZE RURAL NORTH & DANGRIGA UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (11:30 PM)

Belize Rural North Division

Unofficial results state that UDP standard bearer Edmund Castro is leading with a total of 468 votes and PUP candidate Earl Bob Rancho has 348 votes.

Dangriga

In Dangriga's polling station #94 N-Z reported unofficial results of 187 votes for the UDP candidate Arthur Roches and 99 votes for the PUP candidate Cassian Nunez. This brings it to a total of 775 votes for the UDP candidate and 668 for the PUP candidate. Of the twelve areas thus far, the UDP has won in four areas.

ORANGE WALK CENTRAL UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (11:50 PM)

With five more boxes to go, a total of 1,405 votes for PUP candidate Johnny Briceno, 1,299 votes for UDP candidate Rosendo Urbina and 32 votes for NRP candidate Alvaro Espejo.

ORANGE WALK EAST & DANGRIGA UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (12:00 PM)

Orange Walk East
UDP candidate Marcel Cardona leading with a total of 529 votes and the PUP candidate Marcotulio Mendez has a number of 357 votes.

Dangriga

990 votes for the UDP candidate Arthur Roches and 765 votes for the PUP candidate Cassian Nunez. Dangriga still has six more boxes that are yet to be counted.

Dean Barrow is on Love Fm right now and he is benevolent and humble. It's quite enchanting. He says the UDP has only a "share" to claim in this victory ... that the victory needs to be shared with the media who did a great job of keeping the people's minds focused on the issues... (I type too slow to keep up)

He says if there is consensus on a model for the elected senate, then that ought to be put to the people...

On reform... one of first steps is to submit proposals for the elected senate ... to pass legislation to limit a 3 term limit for prime minister... to outlaw secrecy contracts... to do the unjust enrichment law ... to have tri-partite consultation (govt, churches, business) and only then submit a budget...

OFFICIAL RESULTS: MESOPOTAMIA

UDP candidate Michael Finnegan wins in the Mesopotamia Division with a total of 1,653 votes and PUP candidate Austin Waight who received 476 votes.

COROZAL SOUTH

Official reports confirm that UDP candidate Gabriel Martinez wins the Corozal South West Division with 2,530 votes and PUP candidate Gregorio Garcia received 1,813 votes.

Well, we were just awakened to the (now familiar) UDP Song blaring around town at 4:30 am... so it appears that the Red folks around here are quite happy.

Congratulations to all Belizeans on a peaceful election -- despite TacoBoy being awakened at 4:30.

UDP won 26 seats.
PUP won 6 seats.
Dean Barrow is the Prime Minister designate.
Cabinet will be appointed Tuesday.

AC's area rep is Honorable Manuel Heredia Jr.

Am I the only one in San Pedro who didn't vote on the Referendum? When I voted for Belize Rural South they never told me to go over and vote again, they just said Good Bye! Now I feel ripped off!

Will Manuel be the Minister of Tourism? Who will be the Chairman of the BTB? Hope they don't make the same mistake as last time......
Now that the town board and central gov't match, it should be good for San Pedro.

From Love FM

February 07, 2008

Please note that the full list of winning candidates and the amount of votes will be posted as soon as the comprehensive list from the elections & Boundaries department has been received.


Below is a list of the winning candidates and their constituencies.

Caribbean Shores Carlos Perdomo,UDP
Freetown Francis Fonseca,PUP
Pickstock Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington,UDP
Fort George Said Musa,PUP
Albert Mark Espat,PUP
Queen Square Dean Barrow,UDP
Mesopotamia Michael Finnegan,UDP
Collet Patrick Faber,UDP
Port Loyola Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez,UDP
Belize Rural North Edmund Castro,UDP
Belize Rural South Manuel Heredia,UDP
Corozal Bay Pablo Marin,UDP
Corozal South West Gabriel Martinez,UDP
Orange Walk Central Johnny Briceno,PUP
Orange Walk North Gasper Vega,UDP
Toledo East Peter Eden Martinez,UDP
Toledo West Juan Coy,UDP
Cayo North Salvador Hernandez,UDP
Cayo West Erwin Contreras,UDP
Cayo Central Rene Montero,UDP
Cayo Northeast Elvin Penner,UDP
Belmopan John Saldivar,UDP
Dangriga Arthur Roches,UDP

Hey Bruce, good to see you!!! say hey to Victoria also.....

JZB you are not the only one who did not vote for referendum. Apparently you had to ask for that ballot.

Anyway it will more than likely happen - it is something for which there seems general agreement regardless of party affiliation.

Belize Has a New Government

The opposition United Democratic Party has won a landslide victory over the incumbent Peoples United Party in General Elections held yesterday 7th February. With more than 80 per cent of votes counted, the U.D.P. headed by Prime Minister designate Hon. Dean Barrow has won 20 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives signaling a change of government after a ten year rule by the leftist Peoples United Party led by defeated Prime Minister Said Musa.

Counting of votes is continuing in remote areas of the Cayo, Corozal and Toledo districts and the U.D.P.are expected to gain a few additional seats further cementing their victory. All local radio and T.V. stations have now called the elections in favor of the U.D.P.
The new Prime Minister designate Hon. Dean Barrow has appeared on national radio and television thanking the Belizean people for the opportunity given to his party to lead Belize for the next five years. "I am humbled and grateful to the Belizean people for this opportunity to head a new government that will restore our economy and re-establish transparency, accountability and good governance," stated Mr. Barrow.
Mr. Barrow said that he expects to meet with the Governor General Sir Colville Young tomorrow to advise him that he intends to present his new Cabinet next week Monday.

Former Prime Minister Said Musa whose administration was rocked by several corruption scandals and a rebellion from his own ministers during his term of office, narrowly retained his seat in the Fort George division after a surprising show by new challenger Dr. George Gough. Attorney General and Tourism Minister Godfrey Smith - one of the most powerful and well financed ministers in the P.U.P. government lost his seat in an upset to attorney Wilfred Elrington.

Mel Spain called Love FM around 7 am to congratulate Junior on his victory. She did it on a very classy way.

Elected senate was just a political hot potatoe the PUP threw into the laps of the UDP just before former PM Musa called elections and dissolved the house, 31 days ago. UDP are for an appointed senate, as am I and how I voted in the ref.

love this
==================

We wake up to a new government this morning.

One reminder should be we are all Belizeans and its not a football game.
Don't hurt the country to spite the losers.

Elbert Greer

The most glaring statistic (aside from the fact that Ralph Fonseca lost his seat) is the Pickstock result. Godfrey Smith (268), Wilfred Elrington (409).

Huh?

How many registered voters are there in Pickstock that so little people cast votes in that division? Less than one thousand people total...

According to http://results.belize-elections.org/gen_det.php?div_id=3 - Pickstock has 3,294 registered voters and 72.04% of them voted, so something is definitely wrong with the Pickstock numbers.

Also glaring is the reported result that Francis Fonseca only received 16 more votes than Michael Peyfritte. I would imagine that there's some discussion of challenging the results of the Freetown Division.

Cordel Hyde (Lake Independence) is not on the list of confirmed winners just announced by LoveFM.

Orange Walk Central will probably see a recount as well (10 vote spread.)

Go to bed Simon and get some sleep. 2562 - 2252 = 310.

.....must be some sort of brain optical illusion, I intitially read it the same way too!!!!!!

Florida and Gore?
oh no

At least there won't be any hanging chads.

Faith Babb (UDP) once won in the Collet Division by one single solitary vote.

Cordel Hyde has won his division...

From a friend

The election process in Belize is quite comprehensive.

Whenever a new voter is registered in a division, or a voter transfers from one division to another, that is published in the Gazette and can be objected to by either party. It is then challenged in court.

On election day, aside from the polling officers (government employees hired to oversee the election process), each candidate is allowed to have a "scrutineer" inside the polling station to ensure transparency. The "scrutineers" gather at the ballot box at the start of the voting to confirm that it starts the day off empty.

Once the voting starts, only one voter is allowed into the polling station at a time. It is the scrutineers' job to ensure that each voter that enters a polling station to vote is legitimate. They do this by double-checking the voter rolls (which each scrutineer has on hand), to ensure the voter is legitimate to vote in that jurisdiction. If there is the slightest hint of a doubt, any scrutineer can call for a further verification.

The polling agents have with them a complete list of voters which also has photos of the voters that were taken when the voters got their ID. Scrutineers and polling agents then match the photo and voter information with the person waiting to vote. If one scrutineer disagrees as to a match, they argue it out with the polling officer as if in a court and the polling agent makes a final decision as to the person's eligibility to vote. I have not known any election that has resulted in alleged voter fraud because the truth is that a party's scrutineer is usually a seasoned election veteran area captain with first hand knowledge of every voter on his/her list.

As yesterday's election has shown, you cannot "pay" a voter to vote for anybody and be sure that this was done. It is a foolish risk.

Once the polling stations have closed, the ballot boxes are then escorted under police guard, and accompanied by agents for each candidate to the counting station. Everything is done transparently.

As to miscounting, if that happens, it is rectified on the spot by the candidate's "counters" who should object to the miscount. If a candidate does not send an observer to the count, that is hi/her prerogative and their own detriment, because they have that option.

A candidate may request as many recounts as necessary to verify with certainty a winner. I believe the Collet division that once won by one vote was re-counted at least five times. Once there is consensus that a winner has emerged, the polling agent then closes the counting and announces the results.

There is hardly room for error in the process, but when it comes down to the wire, it sure helps to have someone savvy and competent counting for you.

In a recount of ballots the candidate's chosen monitors would witness the votes being recounted. If a ballot is singled out as spoiled for whatever reason, the monitor on behalf of the candidate can challenge the election officials' decision to void the ballot.

Belize elects first black leader, ousts incumbent
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0848407320080208
By Catherine Bremer

BELIZE CITY (Reuters) - Belize elected Dean Barrow as its first black prime minister, final results showed on Friday, as the small Central American nation ended a decade of one-party rule marked by graft scandals and economic problems.

Barrow, a former foreign minister, won a sweeping victory in Thursday's general election, Belize's chief election officer, Ruth Meighan, told Reuters.

Barrow's United Democratic Party, or UDP, took 25 of 31 constituencies against six for Prime Minister Said Musa, whose popularity slumped in recent years.

It was only the third defeat in half a century for Musa's People's United Party, or PUP, which has dominated politics since the former British colony of 300,000 people elected its first legislative assembly in 1954.

Belize, known for its laid-back Caribbean vibe, gained full independence from Britain in 1981.

Barrow's win also makes Musa, a white-haired former lawyer of Palestinian descent, the latest in a string of leaders ousted in Caribbean countries over the past year.

"This clearly is a people's victory. It's the people's judgment on the PUP. They're giving us a huge vote of confidence," Barrow, 56, told local radio on Friday as the count showed him far in the lead.

Barrow ran on a platform of ridding Belize, wedged between Mexico and Guatemala, of the embezzlement scandals and financial mismanagement that hurt Musa's last years in office.

"It's a great feeling. I'm extremely grateful and humbled," Barrow said, as his supporters drove through Belize City, hanging out of cars, honking their horns, waving UDP flags and thumping on car roofs.

In a diverse country of indigenous Maya, Mestizos and African-descended Creoles and Garifuna, many on the street were rejoicing at a Creole winning power. Belize's past leaders were born in Belize but of European descent.

FISCAL PRUDENCE

Investors in Belize's roughly $1 billion in public debt expected Barrow to maintain fiscal stability after a late-2006 debt restructuring stabilized the country's debt ratings.

"I'm fairly confident that he understands the importance of fiscal responsibility and transparency, and that's the key issue," said Bear Stearns analyst Carl Ross in New York.

"The other issue is getting the economy going, which means getting investment going in the tourism sector."

Barrow says he plans to get more Belizeans investing in the tourism industry which, despite the country's lush jungles and sparkling coral reefs, lags neighbors Costa Rica and Mexico.

Tall and easy-going with a shaven head and a rapper son, Barrow appealed to young Belizeans voting for the first time.

Musa, 63, did not comment on the election result.

Many older Belizeans are strongly attached to Musa's party for its role in ending British rule and because local party officials help poor families with school fees and free household appliances. But anger over tax hikes and alleged graft scandals erupted in anti-government riots in 2005. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)

UDP Landslide! Voters choose to 'save Belize'
http://www.reporter.bz/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2559&Itemid=2

Two-term Prime Minister Said Musa led his People’s United Party to a disastrous defeat in yesterday’s general elections, barely holding on to four seats in Belize City.

Dean Barrow and his United Democratic Party, working against great financial odds, swept all four seats in Stann Creek and Punta Gorda, all six seats in the West including Belmopan, all three Belize Rural constituencies, and at last report, were well poised to claim seven of the eight northern constituencies of Corozal and Orange Walk.

In the debacle former Ministers Godfrey Smith and Jose Coye lost their seats by huge margins in the Pickstock and Caribbean Shores Division, while former Minister Francis Fonseca barely held on in Freetown by his fingernails (16 votes).

The U.D.P. candidates for Queen’s Square, Collet, Mesopotamia, Port Loyola, Caribbean Shores and Pickstock in the Belize City hub all romped home with huge margins.

While former Prime Minister Said Musa carried his seat with 356 votes to spare, his lead of five years ago was slashed in half.

Ralph Fonseca, former Minister of Defence, believed to be invincible in his division of Belize Rural Central, lost to newcomer Michael Hutchinson by 186 votes.

The most dramatic upset of all however came from Pickstock, a division the PUP has always held, where attorney Sedi Elrington routed his opponent, Tourism Minister Godfrey Smith, with more than 300 votes to spare.

Former Prime Minister Said Musa was so stunned by the enormity of the upset that he went home to bed without conceding defeat.

Earlier he had told Channel 7 that he planned to retire from the leadership of the party “win or lose” at the end of the campaign. If he does resign, the leadership of the PUP will be up for grabs and the two most likely candidates for leadership will be Mark Espat of the Albert Division and Johnny Brice?o of Orange Walk Central.

The U.D.P., which had aspired to win at least 20 seats now has the pleurality it needs to amend the Constitution without outside help.

This, Prime Minister Designate Dean Barrow said, is going to be at the top of the list of his new government’s priorities.

Today he plans to go to Belmopan for consultations with the Governor General. After that he will set about naming his new Cabinet.

New Prime Minister Designate to be sworn in

Belmopan - 08 February, 2008
Prime Minister designate, Hon. Dean Oliver Barrow, will be sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Belize today.

The official swearing-in ceremonies will be held at Belize House (Office of the Governor-General) commencing at 2 o’clock this afternoon. The rest of the Government officials are scheduled to be sworn in on Monday 11th February, 2008 also at Belize House, Belmopan.

from a friend

One of the stories that will have to be analyzed is the defeat of one of the most feared men in the
P.U.P. Ralph Fonseca.

How a relatively unknown could have come out of left field to defeat
this giant with bulging money bags and one of the best election machines still
has me scratching my head.

Oops, you're right. Being kept awake all night by the noise probably had something to do with it.

from Jorge Varela

I was up until 3:45 a.m. and was dumbfounded by the final results, I never
expected the UDP to win so many Divisions. In my opinion the PUP campaign
messages were more promising (as in, "wi wah tek kyer a yu") and frankly
better. The PUP's marketing machine pushed forth commercials that were well
packaged and on multiple occasions I heard tourists on San Pedro comment how
wonderful what they were promising sounded. Of course those tourists saw
only the ads without the history. The UDP campaign machine just basically
kept saying the PUP were corrupt while offering up few if any real solutions
in their campaign efforts. To me it seemed that it would be a small marginal
win by the UDP.

What instead happened was a sounding vote of "get the hell out". The UDP may
get all excited about this sudden vote of confidence in their abilities but
they should not for one second confuse the removal of the PUP as a vote of
confidence in the UDP. The voters were clearly sending a message - "We have
had enough, we are the ones with the power, we will no longer put up with
poor leadership and management of our country - mess up and you too will be
out!" The UDP should take that lead by reviewing the state of the countries
finances and affairs, making right any wrongs they discover, preparing a
plan going forward - all in an open, transparent form so that the people can
see that they mean change. Then they need to execute that plan.

Next, they need to focus on reforming the government eventually leading to
the removal of minister's discretion that is found liberally sprinkled
throughout the laws. Senate reform, term limits, executive and legislative
branches that are truly independent, etc. all need to be fixed. They need to
handle election reform to stop the use of handouts to buy votes especially
the use of land leases and land grants. They need to enact stricter
environmental laws and strictly enforce the existing laws. Most of all, the
laws need to be changed to force accountability on politician.

I hate to admit that going into these elections I felt that the state of
politics in Belize was hopeless, that the Belizean public as a whole voted
color and pockets alone. I felt that the loyalties to the PUP, the expertise
of the PUP campaign machinery, would somehow override the peoples' ability
to make a calculated choice. I must humbly admit that I was proven wrong.
The Representatives such as Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde who for the most part
did well for their people were rewarded by the people. The results were more
aggressive than I would have liked as I believe that there were some PUP
representatives that should have been kept, but that is only my opinion.
It's nice to see that the people didn't throw out all the babies with the
bath water. Maybe next elections we will see a better blending of Blues,
Reds, Greens, Yellows, and Independents.

Congratulations to the winners - we wish you well and pray that you do right
by and for our country. To the incumbent losers, read the writing on the
wall - the times have changed, we will be oppressed no more. To the
independents - keep up the good work as you are the true agents of change
creating the spark necessary to start the fire under the large lumbering
parties.

Jorge Varela


Copyright 2008 – Jorge Varela – All Rights Reserved – varela@btl.net

I love Jorge... happy belated b-day! xo