Voters to elect new government in Belize today

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Voters in Belize go to the polls today to elect a new government with both the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) and the main opposition People’s United Party (PUP) confident of being victorious.

Polling stations opened at 6:00 a.m. and will close at 8:00 p.m.

A total of 88 candidates representing four political parties and independents are contesting the 31 seats at stake in the election.

There are 182,815 people eligible to cast ballots in the election.

“The mood right now is victory and of course we are pounding the pavement. Every last opportunity we have to be in homes in a safe way and also working the phones to make sure that we are prepared to get the voters out,” said Patrick Faber, who is leading the UDP into a general election for the first time after Prime Minister Dean Barrow bowed out of active politics.

“I believe that that effort has been tremendous on the part of our party and will prove successful. That’s the message that I’ve been getting from our candidates resoundingly across the country,” he added.

But PUP leader, John Briceño, is confident that the party will reverse the three previous consecutive defeats at the hand of the UDP and will be victorious on Wednesday.

“If I am not successful it is obvious then that it is time for the party to find a new leader. At this time, as I said, we have put in the hard work. It has been five long hard years of work. We have reorganised the party, united the party. We have modernised the party.

“We have done all the work. We have visited all the communities across this country and I believe that the policies that we have presented to the Belizean people, offering them hope, offering them something different from what they have seen in the past 13 years.”

Chief Elections Officer, Josephine Tamai, has called for the support of the public for a smooth election, given that the polls are taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic and the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Eta over the past few days.

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