Election “silly season” is here, when political parties are earnestly courting the electorate, and presenting their manifesto platforms for running the business of the nation if given the chance to lead. While some voters will be looking forward to gifts and treats of various forms (though the sale of one’s vote is known to be illegal, but sometimes hard to discern or prosecute), what all voters should be on the alert for, are lofty and nice-sounding promises that may be unrealistic and just an enticement to secure their vote. Silly season is when some voters among the poorer class try to see how they can “come up”; but all voters are well-advised to “pick sense from nonsense,” and make a sober decision on the leaders they want to be at the helm of our ship of state for the next five years.
It is a given that the Opposition will be focusing on all the negatives they can find in the performance of the incumbent, while the party in power will be trumpeting all the many achievements and accomplishments they have made for the country these past four years and four months. The situation is complicated for some voters, with two batches of main Opposition candidates, both claiming to be the real UDP, in addition to a possible third party and a few independent candidates. All the “horses” are being placed in the “gate” today, Nomination Day, for the coming March 12 general election, although the Belize Peace Movement (BPM) and Jerry Enriquez et al. are still attempting to get an injunction from the High Court to halt the proceedings. If such an unlikely eventuality does not occur, Belizeans who haven’t already made up their minds will have these remaining hectic two weeks of frantic campaign events and presentations to make their final choice of candidate/party to give their “X”.
One thing is certain: the incumbent party in government, the PUP, will not be giving voters any bad news or singing any sad songs to the electorate before the elections; and that has been the norm for both UDP and PUP when in government, with one exception, when the economic situation was so dire in the midst of Covid-19 in 2020 that then P.M. Dean Barrow publicly lamented over the future of his Belize. Aside from that exception, the focus has always been on the positives, the good things ahead if you the voter should return the ruling party to power. In championing and celebrating our nation’s achievement of Independence, P.M. Price either did not think it important to share with Belizeans, or did not fully grasp the potential impact of, the Belize-United Kingdom BIT (Bilateral Investment Treaty) which he signed shortly after independence in April of 1982. Belizeans got to reap the bitter fruits decades later when the British Lord, Michael Ashcroft, unleashed litigation against the Belize Government using the protection of that treaty, to the detriment of the Belizean people. And when in 2015, P.M. Dean Barrow returned from a Miami hotel meeting with the same Lord Ashcroft, and proudly announced to the Belizean electorate his great triumph in wresting back BTL from Ashcroft in a special deal involving a trust for Belizean projects, he didn’t then realize, or failed to fully inform Belizeans of, the negative aspects of the arrangement. Neither did he then share the bad news of poor second payments with sugar cane growers in the north, before riding the euphoria of reclaiming BTL to a third consecutive general elections victory in a snap election on November 4, a full year and four months before mandated. The UDP won that election by a 19-12 majority.
Though by law, the prime minister is allowed three months from the date of his announcement until the actual elections are held, it has been the tradition for the incumbent party in government to keep the Opposition off balance with just over a month, the minimum time allowed, from the time of the announcement; and this year’s general election is following that pattern, with the announcement made on February 11 for general elections to take place on March 12.
Under their Plan Belize, current prime minister John Briceño and his PUP team have done a splendid job of turning the economy around, albeit with much borrowing along the way. There is some discontent in various quarters – the stevedores, the hospital workers, the retired public officers – but that is always a part of governance; you can’t please all the people all of the time. And there is a long list on the positive side. So, the Blue Tsunami is on a roll towards what most believe will be a resounding victory come election day; but the question of why P.M. Briceño chose to call elections all of eight months early has still not been satisfactorily answered. It could be that there is the desire to create a new starting point for our election cycle, so that from here on it falls inside the good weather time of year, before the hurricane season. But then, why not a few weeks later, after the much-anticipated annual budget speech, a report card on the previous fiscal year, and the outlook for the new? In times past, the budget was a great boost for the incumbent party, as the various allocations for capital expenditures drew loud applause from supporters. So far, P.M. Briceño has maintained his upbeat demeanor, but at the least, it has to be suspected that he is holding some things back from Belizeans until after elections. When the time comes, we shall see what it will be. Que será, será.
There has been no mention whether P.M. Briceño joined other “Caribbean leaders, diplomats and scholars” on Tuesday, February 18, for a virtual conference “hosted by The University of the West Indies (The UWI) to discuss U.S. President, Donald Trump’s great policy shift and the Caribbean’s response to it.” They reportedly discussed “strategies for navigating the evolving geopolitical landscape and enhancing regional resilience, for a coordinated Caribbean response to the U.S. policies.”
It is no mark against our current prime minister for not dwelling at this time on hurdles to be crossed down the road. There is a time for everything, and this is the time for him to try and lead his party to another general election victory. But it must still figure in the thoughts of aware and concerned Belizeans, that, like in 2020 when the effects of Covid and a toxic international economic climate were pressing down on the Belizean people, there are troubling signs of difficult days ahead, though no fault of government. Climatic conditions have already dealt a major blow to our sugar crop, the chief foreign exchange earner for the nation. The screwworm problem looms heavily over the future of our promising livestock industry. Citrus and Fisheries are struggling. A whole lot rests on tourism and the booming BPO industry right now. But a worrisome cloud in the economic climate hovers over our whole region with the rash series of Executive Orders coming from the new president of the United States. When America sneezes, the old saying goes, Belize is in danger of catching a cold. Already, many Belizeans who had planned trips back home to the Jewel for Easter, are reconsidering their visit this year.
Election fever is high today in the streets of Belize City and likely countrywide in the various municipalities, but there is nothing silly about what is at stake. Our democracy is still the envy of the world, and the choice Belizeans are about to make will be vital for the strength and the unity of our young nation in order to weather the turbulent economic seas ahead. Get ready, Belize!