_{Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow and Hon. Tracy Panton}

BELIZE CITY, Fri. Feb. 14, 2025

High Court Justice Tawanda Hondora today delivered a significant decision in favour of Hon. Tracy Panton. It was a virtual session, and both Panton and Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow (Leader of the Opposition), who each consider themselves the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), were present, as were their attorneys, Peter Knox, KC, and Dr. Christopher Malcolm, respectively. The decision concerned two applications made by Barrow. One was dated December 6, 2024, for contempt of court orders against Panton, with the possibility of a 3-month imprisonment sentence. The second was filed on January 15, 2025, seeking injunctive relief that would have the effect of a gag order that would prevent Panton and her agents or any person from discussing the leadership dispute case. Barrow wanted Panton and her agents to be prohibited from discussing “any matter whatsoever that has the effect or can be reasonably interpreted as having the effect of suggesting to the public there is more than one leader or governance in place of the UDP,” and “any matter whatsoever that has the effect or can be reasonably interpreted as having the effect of undermining the leadership of Moses Barrow, pending the determination of the UDP leadership dispute by this Honourable Court.”

Both applications were denied. Attorney Sheena Pitts, who is Party Chairperson under the Tracy Panton UDP (TPUDP), explained the basis for Barrow’s application by pointing out that it was Barrow’s belief that “when the Court granted the order for interim relief that gave possession of the UDP headquarters to Barrow…they [were] saying that the status quo ante was maintained and that that meant that the Honorable Barrow is undisputedly the leader of the Party.” Panton and her attorney contended, and the Judge agreed, that the order did not, in fact, definitively establish that Barrow was the party leader because, when the Judge spoke of status quo ante, the reference was solely to possession of the headquarters, “so it would not be true and correct to say that when the order was granted it extended itself to definitively declaring the Honorable Shyne Barrow party leader.” Dr. Malcolm, in an interview with the Belize press on January 6, stated that “the Court confirmed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the leader of the Party — at least until such time as the court makes a decision to the contrary – is Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow.” Malcolm added, “What the Court unconditionally said is that the status quo ante – that is to say, before the meeting of October 20, 2024, should be reverted and that all the powers that vested in the leader prior to then (and the leader being Shyne Barrow) should be reverted and that he has absolute power to confirm to do what he has to do.”

According to Pitts, if contempt of court is not established to determine a breach, no subsequent gag order could follow. She added that Panton’s arguments also focused on “…whether freedom of speech could be impeded by any injunctive relief, especially freedom of speech in a political space.” This means that Panton cannot be stopped from referring to herself as the leader of the UDP. However, when Barrow was interviewed by the media this afternoon, he stated that for him, “nothing has changed,” thereby downplaying the significance of the decision. He instead emphasized that his faction retains ownership of the party headquarters and assets, and added that he would appeal. He also noted that the time for mediation is long past. When challenged by XTV’s News Editor, Marisol Amaya, about his and his attorney’s stance on the “status quo ante” reference, Barrow lost his cool and in an elevated pitch/volume, accused Amaya of unethical behaviour and of herself propagating lies. People who viewed the acrimonious exchange described it as an attack on Amaya. 

Despite the contempt of court application, Panton had never resiled from the position that at the October 20, 2024 unity convention, she was duly installed as interim leader of the UDP. With the Court left to decide that substantive matter at a one-day trial on March 31st and mediation out of the picture, the two factions will present themselves as UDPs. In fact, both sides insist that theirs is the sole UDP.

Panton says they will present their candidates list shortly, but she continues to maintain that the UDP candidates are those 31—except in Mesopotamia—who went to contested conventions or who were endorsed. In the case of Mesopotamia, she says the new standard bearer in that division is Lee Mark Chang, based on the constituency executive committee requesting a change.

Panton says their request to the Elections and Boundaries Commission is that they be allowed to use the colour red (the official color used by the UDP) or that, if the Commission does not want to rule on the matter, for neither side to be allowed to use the colour.

Asked about how they will navigate the situation in which multiple candidates will be presenting themselves as members of the UDP, Panton stated, “Democracy is messy, and we don’t expect that Shyne is going to play fair. He is not going to play by the rules. He is going to put his best spin on this ruling that was not in his favour. But neither are we going to go anywhere. We are resolute in our determination to defend democracy within the party and to defend the democracy of this country. We will not yield. We will not buckle, and we are going to fight ‘til the last vote is counted on March 12.”

Panton and her attorneys are entitled to costs for the two applications.