Prime Minister acknowledges “election fatigue” but asks support for municipals

Published by BBN Staff at February 9, 2021

Tags

Posted: Tuesday, February 9, 2021. 4:25 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: On March 3, Belizeans in the country’s nine municipalities and one constituency are headed back to the polls to vote for municipal councils, and in Corozal Bay to elect a new representative following the death of David “Dido” Vega.

But the Government had seriously considered delaying the election by one year, Prime Minister John Briceño told reporters.

“That was damned if you do and damned if you don’t, because if we would have delayed it you would have heard the UDP crying bloody murder…if we would have delayed it then they would have said we were trying to turn dictator and we don’t want to have an election right now. We had a serious and long discussion among us; it wasn’t an easy decision. But at the end of the day, we felt that democracy must prevail, and democracy has its own agenda and its own timetable and we must proceed,” he explained in an interview.

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that there was “election fatigue” following the campaign last year leading up to November, also tied to the issue of the pandemic. “There’s not a lot of excitement from people, rightly so. People are worried about COVID, people are worried about finding a job; people can’t afford to get something to eat and in their minds that is more important than an election.”

Briceno also noted that this was the price we pay for being a democratic society, that every three years in this case, we elect the persons we want to lead our cities and towns. The PUP enters the election in the minority and while the P.M. says he is confident his teams have the people the electorate will consider to lead them, he nonetheless asks for their support anyway.

Nomination day in all municipalities is Monday, February 15.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.