BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 30, 2015–Today marks the twenty-sixth day since voters of Belize City returned United Democratic Party (UDP) Mayor Darrell Bradley to City Hall for a second 3-year term, but if the Mayor has his way, he will demit that office for a seat in the House of Representatives as the Caribbean Shores area representative.
From as far back as February 2013, Bradley has made no secret that his ambition is to run for national office as a representative of Caribbean Shores, and today, Bradley pitched a tent at the junction of Blue Marlin Boulevard and Coney Drive to announce his candidacy for the division — a challenge to the sitting area representative, the UDP’s Hon. Santiago Castillo, Jr., who is Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance under Party Leader and Prime Minister Dean Barrow.
Bradley, without mincing words, declared, “…one of the reasons why we decided to have it on a Monday morning at 10 a.m. in the form and fashion that we have, is really just to make a public announcement that we are coming for the Caribbean Shores seat.”
Even before he won his second term, as Belize City Mayor earlier this month, Bradley was keenly focused on Caribbean Shores, paving many of the area’s streets using funds from the city’s municipal bond.
And before the municipal elections, Bradley did a lot of apparent wavering before finally entering the race — even missing the deadline to file an application confirming that he’d once again be running for the post of Belize City Mayor in the elections.
Whatever was going on in the UDP camp was resolved in time for Bradley to lead the UDP team, but the issue of his intention to unseat “Santi” in the Caribbean Shores constituency never waned.
In making the announcement that he is officially in the race for the UDP Caribbean Shores standard bearer seat, Bradley said: “So it gives me great pleasure, great honor, great pride and great humility to stand before you this morning and to declare in one resounding voice that I intend to run for area representative in the Caribbean Shores division of Belize City.”
The race that is now on for the UDP Caribbean Shores seat is one that PM Barrow had described in April 2013, as “unfortunate.”
“I think the Mayor is doing such magnificent work in Belize City that he could win pretty much any division in the Old Capital,” Barrow had said to one media house.
When the possibility that the UDP might be more in support of “Santi” was mentioned to the Mayor, he responded, “I know that there will be a significant amount of money against us. There will be a significant amount of political support against us. So, what I am telling you is that it is about the courage of your leader to stand up and say, ‘You know what, I am for character, and I am for change. I am for vision, and if the people want Darrell Bradley, then just vote.’”
Asked if the campaign will result in an ugly rivalry between him and Santi, Bradley explained, “It won’t get ugly from our point. I can’t speak to his camp, but as I said before, we bear him no ill will. I was very pleased in relation to the municipal elections that there was a great degree of civility to it. We run a certain kind of campaign that is based on principle and character, because I think that that also reflects the personality of the candidate; that you can control your people and ensure that your people comport themselves with a certain level of political maturity.
“And so that I can speak for myself and my people that we will ensure that this convention is won in a way that comports with the highest principles of mature, political display of support, and we will engage with Santino’s people as much as possible.
“And whoever wins, if he wins, I will continue to support him. And I would hope that if I win his people and himself, would support us in ensuring that we secure Caribbean Shores for the United Democratic Party.”
Bradley further remarked, “I’m not a political strategist. I am a worker, and I believe that this election will be won on the ground. It will be won by 5,700 people casting their votes and the majority of those people voting for Darrell Bradley versus Santiago Castillo. So those people are the people who will make the decision and those are the people who we are focusing on in terms of ensuring we are on the ground every single day engaging with them and asking for their support.
“So … we are not about strategy. This is going to be won on the ground and the question is, who do you believe will be a better leader, better able to deliver for Caribbean Shores, and I will put a good bet that the majority of the people in this area, the majority of people in this area, will believe that Darrell Bradley will deliver for them, versus the representation that they currently have.”
“What I am doing here is not unusual. There have been leaders, including the prime minister, who stepped down from City Council and went to higher office in the Central Government; that’s between ’83 and ’84,” Bradley went on to note.
“Derek Aikman did that, Joe Coye as mayor did that; Hubert Elrington did that…so there is a precedent,” he added.
If selected as the UDP candidate for Caribbean Shores in the June 7 convention, Bradley would serve as mayor of Belize City until he is possibly elected to the Caribbean Shores seat in the next general elections, which are due in March 2017, if early elections are not called.
Mayor Bradley would face the Opposition People’s United Party’s Kareem Musa, one of the sons of the former two-term Prime Minister Said Musa, in the general elections if he (Bradley) is selected to represent the Caribbean Shores constituency.