Dear Editor,
Many people have commented that the recently concluded UDP Orange Walk East convention to elect a new standard bearer was one that was driven by economics (dare I say, by money?), and that as such, there must have been a lot of “vote buying” going out there on convention day.
The concept of “buying votes” is nothing new to elections and politics, and particularly so in Belize. It became famous and almost rudimentary under the 1998 PUP push for office, and was a major part of their election campaign.
As the PUP grew in power during its 10-year run at the helm, so did the amounts offered to buy votes. There are stories of people being paid as much as $1,000 dollars for votes under the PUP.
As part of KREM/Channel 7’s 2003 election coverage in Queen’s Square when the PUP were really pushing Dickie Bradley in their attempt to topple the now PM Barrow, around mid-afternoon that day I personally witnessed known PUP operatives who were infamous for their suspected roles in various passport scandals under their 1998-2003 term, pull up in their high end SUV’s with stacks of $50’s and $100’s between the legs of the persons seated in the vehicles, and immediately after that, campaigners for the PUP piled into the SUV’s and were off to the races to “bring out the voters.”
Stories run abound of other candidates offering money to voters but, tearing the $50 bill in half and holding the side with the Queen’s head (almost like a ransom) until the voter could come back and show proof that he or she voted for that particular PUP candidate.
Remember now, if as Amandala often opines, there is no difference between the two mainstream parties and only a PUDP, then the UDP are only following the precedents set by the PUP, because that lot are the bosses of such money vices.
The unfortunate reality about it all is that the “business” of politics is exactly that: politics has become a business for so many who enter into it, and the economic times of 2010 Belize dictate that the everyday “Joe Public” will take the money every time, because it is, if nothing else, a sure dollar! Many voters take the position, “Well, da fi we money anyway! We jus di get fi we lee piece now.”
This should not be the case, however. To vote is a constitutional right, much like freedom of speech, the right to earn a fair wage, the right to basic shelter and protection, etc., and as such, should never be taken so lightly. It is the ultimate power that each and every citizen has to affect the way or direction that our country is being run.
Stop sell unu votes, my Belizean people…would you sell your freedom? Think about that the next time you vote…
Damian Gough
P. S. Thank you for occasionally giving me the outlet to share some of the thoughts I have from time to time about issues affecting our country. I hope that the pieces, if nothing, stir thought in the readers and cause them to be moved, or plant a seed for further thought and discussion.