‘Disappointed’ Tracey Taegar-Panton dismisses morning show caller’s unsubstantiated claim of domestic violence in her own household; warns media to be more responsible

By Aaron Humes: This morning an unproven claim was made by a caller to the LOVE FM Morning Show, alleging that Albert area representative Tracey Taegar-Panton had domestic issues at home and was keeping silent about it while calling out male colleagues Patrick Faber and Moses “Shyne” Barrow on their own public domestic issues.

Hosts Ernesto Vasquez and Thamar Jones almost immediately shied away from the accusation, Jones saying that if it is so, it would be up to Taegar-Panton to speak publicly about it.

This afternoon, Breaking Belize News (BBN) brought up the matter with Panton at the House of Representatives after being sent a copy of the video and in turn sharing it with her. We asked whether, in the context of her campaign for leader of the United Democratic Party, opponents are fixing on to an issue that is in vogue in the public discourse to try to discredit her. While she was not able to view the video at that time, she was unfazed: “Anybody that is going to make allegations or aspersions against me needs to see me or present themselves, give their names, and speak to the issue and bring whatever evidence or conjecture they think they have out to the public. I have nothing to hide, I have never had anything to hide; my life has been an open book, and I stand firmly on my reputation and my integrity and my support for critical issues that affect this nation.”

She commended the nature of today’s debate on the Domestic Violence Motion, 2022, agreeing with us that it was one of the better debates in her tenure at the National Assembly: “I think it’s testament to what we can achieve for Belize and Belizeans when we find common ground, a bipartisan approach for matters of national importance.” But she would not speculate when asked whether it was disappointing to her that Party Leader and ex-Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber was absent from Belmopan for today’s meeting.

This evening she issued a statement on social media reiterating what she said to us and elaborating upon what was said earlier: “Our local media houses have to be more responsible. While I am a huge proponent for freedom of expression, we have to exercise a great deal of caution and discretion when information is shared that seeks to disparage a person’s character without any basis or semblance of truth. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Love FM please be more careful. If a caller suggests that they have ‘proof’ of allegations they are pronouncing on your radio/tv station, they must provide such proof, or at the bare minimum, disclose who they are. My family is very important to me, in fact, they mean everything. I will not sit back and allow cheap shots to [be] made against their character solely for political mischief. It is not going to happen, not under my watch.”

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