Commissioner of Police says United Democratic Party dispute should be resolved in court; says police will stay neutral

Published by BBNTEAM at October 28, 2024

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Posted: Monday, October 28, 2024. 8:16 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, who is a trained attorney, suggested during today’s weekly press conference in Belize City that the Alliance for Democracy (AFD) may have gone about things the wrong way today by essentially forcibly entering the UDP headquarters on Youth for the Future Drive.

Or, as summarized by The People’s Court’s Doug Llewelyn, “If you’re in a dispute with another party and you can’t seem to work things out, don’t take the law into your own hands; you take ’em to court.”

While the next stages of the United Democratic Party dispute may well end up in the courts, several issues must be considered. The AFD is relying on a power of attorney from former party Secretary General and trustee Phillipa Griffith Bailey as well as a land certificate establishing that the land was transferred into her name by former Minister of Natural Resources Gaspar Vega, and held by her and other trustees in trust for the Party, as well as her written authorization to Tracey Taegar-Panton and those elected in the AFD Unity National Convention on October 20 to have use and enjoyment of the building. But is that enough for the AFD to seize the headquarters building? Williams explained that it is treated like the situation of a landlord and tenant. “If you have a landlord and the landlord wishes to displace his tenant, the landlord cannot just bring a new tenant to the building and say to the current tenant, ‘you need to leave.’ There is a legal process that you must follow, and the legal process cannot be circumvented by some other process…”

Williams further explained that because there are equal and competing claims, the Panton faction should take the matter to court: “The proper thing for them to have done was to take the matter before the court – perhaps request Phillipa Bailey who is the trustee to issue [Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow] with a notice to quit, perhaps a month. If after the one-month period expires, he does not quit – and notice of quit simply means notice to leave, that’s a legal term – he does not leave within that time, then they will take that to the court and apply for an eviction order. If the court sees it fit, after having heard all the evidence, and then the court issues that eviction order, then the police can then act with them to forcefully evict him from the building. In the absence of that, then, the police do not have the legal authority.”

The Commissioner said he has since spoken to Barrow advising him that he can go to court if Panton does not and if the court sides with him, then that is that. According to the Commissioner, the power of attorney is limited to what power Griffith Bailey has as trustee and nothing more, and only the court can address the issue.

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