_{Tracy Panton sworn in as Leader of the Opposition}

Tracy Panton has become Belize’s first female Leader of the Opposition and Lee Mark Chang, the first Chinese-Belizean Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

by William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 17, 2025

 Belize’s first ever woman Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tracy Panton, took her Oath of Office before Governor-General H.E. Froyla Tzalam at the Governor-General’s residence in Belmopan last Friday, March 14.

All five members of the United Democratic Party (UDP) who were successful in the March 12 general elections – Mike Guerra, Godwin Haylock, Hugo Patt, Lee Mark Chang, and Tracy Panton – were officially sworn in at Friday’s ceremony in Belmopan.

_{(l-r) Lee Mark Chang, Mike Guerra, Tracy Panton and Godwin Haylock}

Panton, who won her Albert division seat for a 3rd term in the House of Representatives on March 12, had already received the support of the two new Members of the House, Lee Mark Chang for Mesopotamia and Godwin Haylock for Queen’s Square, who were nominated by her Alliance For Democracy faction of the United Democratic Party (UDP). She has reportedly also received the pledges of full support for her to become the UDP leader from the other two elected UDP members from Shyne Barrow’s faction of the UDP – Hugo Patt in Corozal North, and Mike Guerra in Cayo West, who attended the ceremony.

Breaking the glass ceiling on women’s leadership in the government of Belize was historic, not just for Panton and her family, who witnessed her swearing-in ceremony, but “for all girls in this country who aspire to leadership,” Panton commented. “I am entirely grateful to all those who have supported me, particularly the good people of the Albert constituency. I could not be here without them voting for me and supporting me over the last 10 years,” she further remarked.

She was surrounded by her closest UDP friends and supporters, as she pledged “to bear true faith and allegiance to Belize and to uphold the Constitution and the Laws of Belize”. She declared that she would conscientiously and impartially discharge her duties to the best of her ability as the Leader of the Opposition, and “to do right to all manner of people, without fear or favour, affection or ill will”. She affixed her signature to this pledge to the Belizean people, on paper in black and white, with the Governor-General also signing as her witness.

Could Panton some day become Belize’s first woman prime minister? She seemed very confident that this could also happen, as she avowed: “In 2030, the UDP will be the new government!” She pledged to the nation that they now “have a Leader of the Opposition who is completely committed to preserving and promoting Belize’s democracy.” “I have proven that over the last 10 years. I am not going anywhere; I am resolute about that. And I think it’s a big win for the people of this country,” she said.

However, the overwhelming mandate that voters gave to the People’s United Party (PUP) in this year’s elections means that the UDP will require some serious negotiations and reconciliation to heal the divide within the party, and for them to win a majority in the House within the next five years.

Panton and former Opposition Leader, Shyne Barrow were both leading separate factions of the UDP going into the general election; however, Barrow lost his seat against Chang in the Mesopotamia constituency of Belize City.

“Mission accomplished,” Panton had proclaimed. “Our mandate that we received on October 20th at the UDP Convention that was held at the Civic Center was for us to defend our democracy, to do everything we can to heal and restore the trust and the confidence of the people in the United Democratic Party, and Lee Mark’s win in Mesop is indicative of our commitment to making good on that mandate,” she added.

Panton said her “first order of business is for us to regroup, to sit down together as a wider UDP family. I have been speaking to my colleagues individually, but it’s time for us to come together as a UDP family and do a proper post-mortem of what has happened so that we can be guided as our next step.”

She confessed to being completely drained, exhausted by the recent election campaign, and she thanked the voters who had elected her. “I’m humbled and I’m deeply grateful for an opportunity to serve at this level of governance. I hope that I would be able to have a positive impact, affect meaningful change in the National Assembly; that we can elevate the dialogue and elevate the debate; step away from personal attacks, and really look at the issues the people are facing in this country. We’re here to serve, and I’m ready to lead,” she said.

Panton says her team’s first task as the Opposition is to now prepare for the government’s presentation of the national budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and to challenge the spending allocations in the House debate which will follow, “to ensure that the needs and concerns of the people are taken into account.”

In addition to Tracy Panton making history as the first female Opposition Leader in Belize, Lee Mark Chang was sworn in as the Deputy Opposition Leader, making him the first Chinese Belizean to hold that position.