_{Photo: Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow affirms he will not step down as leader}

Faber, Panton and Saldivar join forces to mount challenge to Shyne’s leadership

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 5, 2024

Tempers flared at the start of the Opposition United Democratic Party’s (UDP) National Party Council (NPC) meeting on the afternoon of Saturday, August 3rd. On the agenda was the post-mortem of the July 17 Toledo East by-election in which the UDP’s candidate, Dennis “Deesho” Williams, was trounced by the incumbent PUP’s Dr. Osmond Martinez. However, John Saldivar, founder of the Caucus for Change, Hon. Patrick Faber and Hon. Tracy Panton, who have joined forces to formally initiate a challenge to the leadership of Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, intended to take the meeting in another direction.

In a subsequent impromptu press conference by the trio, Hon. Panton would report that Party Chairman Michael Peyrefitte refused to table their motion. Instead, Peyrefitte suspended (Faber used the word “dismissed”) the meeting and left the building as things descended into chaos, with delegates from both camps getting into shouting matches, and two women almost coming to blows.

Deputy Chairman, Alberto August did not take up the responsibility to continue the meeting, and also departed alongside Barrow not long after Peyrefitte had left. Barrow was later accused of having the breaker to the building turned off. He walked out amid chants from the supporters of the Panton, Faber and Saldivar trifecta for him to go. Effectively, that meant that the meeting had to be called off, and Barrow ascribed the move to some colleagues’ not “conducting themselves with the proper order.” He added that there was “a lot of toxicity and disorderly conduct” because “those that always talk about the Constitution and regulations and rules have a difficult time accepting the will of the majority, and have a difficult time accepting simple procedure. The Central [Executive] sets the agenda, and then we go into the meeting and we conduct the affairs based on that agenda.”

Unfazed by the raucous crowd upon his departure, Barrow affirmed that he still enjoys the majority support in the party, and emphasized that any attempt to unseat him “is an exercise in futility as per the Constitution.” He explained, “In order for that process to happen, it’s a 120-day process if the Party Chairman were to entertain any petition, because the National Convention of the UDP – which is the highest body of this party, on August 13, 2023 unanimously voted not only to re-elect myself and other leaders, but they put forward a motion that explicitly prohibited any change in leadership until after the next general elections.”

In the trifecta’s press conference that followed, Hon. Panton explained that 7 weeks ago, members of the NPC from 16 divisions wrote the Party Chairman requesting that the NPC be convened to address the process used to remove Philip Willoughby as the UDP standard bearer in Port Loyola, and subsequently the removal of Danny Guerrero for Belize Rural South. She noted that they were informed that an NPC meeting would be held on August 3rd, and that any matter could be discussed then. Explaining the reasoning behind placing this matter on the agenda, Hon. Panton stated, “If we do not deal with the issues now, what will happen is that if the Party Leader decides he does not like you, he’s going to pick off one standard bearer at a time, and that certainly is not the democratic way.” However, she noted that the Chairman denied the will of the majority for that matter to be the first order of business.

Hon. Panton would go on to declare that she would challenge Barrow at a leadership convention with the declared backing of Faber and Saldivar. She reported having 264 delegate signatures from 18 divisions to trigger a petition (the required number is about 160). She would later revise those figures downward to 232 signatures. We also note that the number of constituencies the trifecta is claiming is being disputed by the Barrow camp, which affirms that Hon. Panton has support only from 15 divisions and not 18.

“You cannot deny 264 delegates of this party because you determine that that is not how it’s going to go, and you are going to hold on to leadership,” declared Hon. Panton at the press conference. She continued, “It is clear that the Party Leader has lost the control of the party, and there is no confidence in his leadership. The party must move forward; we must rebuild; we must unite; but we can only do so under a leadership that is open to hearing the views and opinions of those who are the decision-makers in this party …”

The Hon, Panton’s team and their supporting delegates are calling for the endorsement of all party officials made on August 13, 2023 to be rescinded. Her response to Barrow is that “no matter what decision was made prior, we have the right to change our minds …” She reported that the petition would be formally presented to the Party Chairman today.

Reaffirming their “I’m with her” social media campaign, Saldivar stated, “We are of the view that Honorable Tracy Panton should take on the leadership of the party. If given the opportunity at a convention, I will support her.” Asked about Hon. Panton’s aspirations for leader, and his and Faber’s own such aspirations, Saldivar also stated, “Mine are done.” He then indicated that they are not just “setting up” Hon. Panton to “take a loss”, as this is for the long haul, and he’d like to see “Tracy become the first woman prime minister of Belize.” Hon. Faber then stated, “I don’t have anything different to say … and just so that you understand, if I had wanted to run, nobody would stop me from running. So, when you see I tell you that I am 100% with her, that is what I mean. I think the time has come that we need to go to a different level.”

Speaking on the letter from Mayor Earl Trapp requesting that Faber’s expulsion be on the agenda for the NPC meeting, Faber commented, “I understand politics very well. A lot of things have happened to me over the course of my many years in politics. So, Earl Trapp is my friend. I understand sometimes circumstances push people in the wrong direction. He has rescinded the letter, and Earl Trapp and I are fine.”

UDP leader files police report against Beverly Williams

Things continued unravelling today as regards what transpired at Saturday’s UDP NPC meeting. When the Secretary General of the Party showed up at the UDP headquarters this morning, she reportedly found that the conference room and the Party Leader’s office had been befouled with food, juice and garbage strewn all over the place and on Barrow’s desk and office chair. Barrow would state, that he was “apalled by the desecration of the UDP HQ conference room and the Office of the Party Leader.”

In the afternoon, Barrow would file a complaint against 2nd Deputy Leader Beverly Williams (whom he described as former 2nd Deputy Leader), thereby revealing the level of tension that had prevailed at the aborted NPC meeting. There are reports that, following a heated exchange between Williams and Barrow, a woman delegate from Barrow’s camp had tried to console Williams, who pushed her hand away, causing the woman to reportedly push her in the back. From there, things almost escalated, had it not been for one of the men stepping in.

Reports are that Barrow, in his statement to police, stated that Williams uttered, “You are evil and you will mourn for your evil,” to which Barrow replied, “You are mourning for your evil.” From there, his claim is that Williams then tried to physically assault him, and while being restrained by others, shouted, “I will send somebody to hurt you; I will send somebody to kill you.” Barrow is seeking court action.

Asked about the testy exchange during Saturday’s press conference, Williams stated, “I’m not prepared to say anything other than, ‘I’m with her’.” Today, she would not admit to making the statements being claimed by Barrow, who wrote in one of the Party’s chat groups that she repeatedly threatened him in front of colleagues.

On another note, there is a report that Hon. Panton has been removed from key party chat groups, and that she wrote a letter demanding to be reinstated, saying that she is entitled to participate in the groups as an elected area representative.

Barrow is set to hold a press conference on Tuesday.