BELIZE CITY, Fri. June 25, 2021– During his almost two-hour-long press conference on Friday, Hon. Patrick Faber, the embattled leader of the UDP party, remarked that both Michael Peyrefitte (the current UDP chairman, who is also a member of the Senate) and Darrell Bradley (former Belize City mayor and former president of the Senate) are “worthy opponents and are worthy to lead the party.”

While both persons have served their party in varying capacities, neither has been able to secure a general election victory in order to represent a constituency in the House of Representatives. In Peyrefitte’s case, his bid to be the UDP standard bearer for the Port Loyola division prior to the 2020 general election had been unsuccessful.

All indications are that the new Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Shyne Barrow, who is the area representative for the Mesopotamia division, will not vie for the position of leader of the UDP. Hon. Barrow has stated that he is just “holding over” until the recall petition aimed at removing Faber from the helm of the party has been completed — thus setting the stage for Bradley or Peyrefitte, or a possible third candidate, to take the reins.

According to the UDP’s constitution, the party leader must be a member of the National Assembly. Unconfirmed reports are that Hon. Barrow, in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition, will remove newly appointed senator Khalid Belisle to make it possible for Bradley to be appointed as a member of the Senate — thus making him qualified to run for party leader.

While UDP chairman Peyrefitte has indicated that he intends to get the recall petition over with as quickly as possible, no date or venue for a convention at which UDP delegates will determine the outcome of such a petition, has yet been announced. If Hon. Faber is recalled, it will trigger a national leadership convention for the party.

 In his remarks at the press conference, Hon. Faber said, “ I think that like everyone else they have their faults but I’m not going to get into that.  My position is simply that I am not opposed to any of the processes of the party, you know.