UDP Chairman Michael Peyrefitte rejects call for national convention aimed at challenging Shyne Barrow and other elected party officials

Published by [email protected] at August 6, 2024

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Posted: Tuesday, August 6, 2024. 4:16 pm CST.

By Jose Luis Cruz: Chairman of Belize’s United Democratic Party (UDP), Michael Peyrefitte has bluntly rejected a request for a national convention aimed at challenging the leadership of Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow and other elected party officials. The request was initiated by the party’s 2nd Deputy Leader, Beverly Williams, and sought to challenge the endorsement of all Party Officials which occurred in August 13th, 2023.

“Let me say to you respectfully straight away that I will not issue any such call for a National Convention for the purpose you have requested,” wrote Chairman Peyrefitte.

In his letter dated August 5th, 2024, Peyrefitte emphasized the importance of maintaining unity and stability within the UDP. He highlighted that “Before August 13, 2023 our party was suffering from serious infighting and uncertainty and hence the National Party Council (NPC) decided, and then it recommended to the National Convention (NC), that the current Party Officials be endorsed until the next General Elections”. This endorsement was approved by the National Convention and was crucial for the party’s coherence. Reopening these decisions, he argued, would lead to further division and undermine the party’s public image.

Peyrefitte continued by pointing out the impracticality of calling for a National Convention at this juncture. He noted that if a convention was held in November 2024 and the vote resulted in the removal of current officials, it would waste significant time that could be better spent on campaign activities and constituency work.

“The call for an NC to reverse what I stated… will divide us even further (if that’s possible) and certainly will not be good for certainty of purpose and our mission,” Peyrefitte wrote. He stressed that changing leadership at this stage would not serve the best interests of the UDP, especially with potential early General Elections on the horizon.

In his letter, Peyrefitte reaffirmed the NPC’s decision from August 13, 2023, and the subsequent approval of the National Convention, to endorse the current elected officials, including the UDP’s leadership until the next General Elections. He indicated that this decision was made to ensure stability and continuity within the party. Peyrefitte dismissed the idea of revisiting this decision unless there was an absolute emergency or significant misconduct by current officials, which he asserted was not the case.

In closing, Peyrefitte made it clear that he could not support the call for a National Convention for the reasons outlined by Williams. He emphasized that the decisions of the highest body of the party must be respected and cannot be altered on a whim.

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