BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 7, 2018– Opposition People’s United Party supporters are fiercely battling in the days leading up to a contested convention to elect a standard bearer to represent the party in the next general election for the Albert constituency. The present PUP Albert caretaker, Senator Paul Thompson, suddenly found himself in a war with his fellow party member, Senator Valarie Woods, who has tossed her hat into the political ring and is trying to wrestle away the division from him.
Today, Amandala caught up with Senator Thompson as he was preparing to campaign in the division with his longtime political ally, Hon. Cordel Hyde, area representative for the Lake Independence constituency and the PUP National Deputy Leader.
We asked Hon. Hyde to explain an advertisement that was put out by Senator Woods in which it appeared that he was supporting her candidacy.
“That is not the case,” Hon. Hyde said, “let me set the record straight.”
Hon. Hyde explained that two years ago, in November 2016, there was a public meeting in San Pedro. “At the time Val was doing her thing in the Senate and I was being kind. She spoke before me and she was telling the people that she was not interested in politics and that she was not going to run. And I said, no man, she wants to run and she should run,” said Hyde.
“That is not the same as saying that she should run in the Albert division against Paul Thompson. This is a man who has been in the trenches with the PUP for 20 years. This is a man who shares the same social justice vision that I have, so that we take care of the common man and woman in the streets,” Hon. Hyde explained.
Hon. Hyde stressed that with Paul Thompson, “what you see is what you get. There is no frills.”
We asked Hon. Hyde to characterize what Senator Woods has done in a few words.
“I think it’s a tad misleading,” Hon. Hyde remarked. “I think we have to set the record straight and make it absolutely clear to everyone who I am supporting.”
“There is no way I can support anybody other than Paul Thompson in the Albert division. This is a man who is not chasing the camera. He is not trying to get seen. He has spent many years as the Commissioner of Basketball of this country and has helped many Belizean youth get basketball scholarships. He spends a lot of time chasing down plane tickets, trying to get the best coach for these kids. Paul is just a quiet worker,” said Hon. Hyde.
The convention for the Albert division will be held on June 17.