by Colin Hyde

If Pehreh had been born in the US, the odds are that brother would have been heavily recruited by the NFL, as a lineman. The brother is built — some might snidely say he is portly, but fat or muscle, you have to pack it in at the dinner table to build up the body. I say, it’s always a relief when the things you learned in childhood prove true, and the brother deserves maximum points for his being the poster boy for the adage, ‘why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover’. It goes with the territory that if you carry pounds on the frame, many will say you’re all-around greedy, but that’s not the story of our Pehreh. Hurray for you, Braa; I got it on Krem News that you’re not going to sue us over that little back and forth about custom-built office furniture and an outdated laptop.

I really don’t want to talk about Dean and our money. All I’ll say is it’s a daam pity that ungrateful bohga isn’t running again – gave his sister his seat, yeh – ‘cause if he was, we could catch him at the polls and make him feel the sting of a thorough electoral beating.

That Godwin is lean, and it looks like he is mean. Godwin is reportedly after our money. I’m beginning to think that Godwin hates us, and it began when some crazed somebody torched his vehicle. But that doesn’t excuse him for hankering after our money. My, tell me it ain’t so. Heroes are so hard to come by. I’d hate to see a good brother like that lose his halo. Hn, it’s hard to explain that Patt. All indications are that he’ll want wife again. What the hell, you can’t brazenly take our money and then come around begging for votes, Braa.

Patt should be like Pehreh, a genuine Good Samaritan — no Miami backroom fake brand. I expect dirty cynics will say our hero is playing smart because he might want to try for wife again, after failing at both the higher and lower levels. Kip those thoughts to yuself; in these hard times we are thankful for any mercy.

The savings we’ll get from Pehreh spurning a lawsuit against us comes from two ends. We won’t have to pay any award (based on Marshalleck’s terrible batting average — .000, we would have struck out again.) We’re also saved from paying lawyer fees in another failed GOB defense. The father of failed cases involving our GOB, Dean Barrow, warned us against going to court, and he ought to know.
No good turn should go unrecognized, for without that encouragement, the do-gooder might feel that no one cares, and who can blame a person who feels unappreciated when they become selfish. So, let’s all cheer for Pehreh, a politician with a conscience.

Village Council reports
It was expected that the main opposition would get dusted off in Village Council elections that come on the heels of a General Election, and true to script, the UDP got a drubbing every week. If we follow the Belize Times, and we should, ehm, trust them, because on their mast they say “the truth shall make you free”, the Blue won 146, the Reds 23, and Independents won 18. Those villages that went Red must be die-haad fu troo. As the count goes for total seats won, and percentage of votes won, we’ll have to wait for the Elections & Boundaries Department to publish those. As a barometer for the party hounds, the more important data would be the percentage of votes won.

Maybe desperate to make a shelling not look so bad, there’s this claim by the Reds that some of their people ran as Independents. That looks like a giant reach. The UDP has said that some of their people ran Independent because they feared victimization from the Blue government. They should be ashamed to make such a charge. That was their modus operandi when in government. The UDP is trying to smear the PUP with the petty brush they used while in office. The UDP had 13 years to fix the system, but instead they capitalized on it. They did nothing by way of reform to end victimization in Belize.

Putting that charge aside, core opposition members don’t of their own run as Independents when their party is outside the fence. No self-respecting Blue or Red will ever dishonor their party that way. If any did, it’s because they were instructed by the main party to do so. Why would a party want some of its followers running as Independents? It could be tactical, an effort to gain traction with non-aligned Belizeans. But if any core UDP ran Independent, the most likely reason is they did so because they are disgusted with the present configuration of the party.

Time for leadership lessons for village councilors
Now that the Village Council Elections are over, it is time for all councilors to attend leadership classes, and I don’t mean with the emphasis on how to win elections. That would be redundant anyway, because they are proven commodities now, fresh off vanquishing their political enemies. Of course, it was a stroll for the Blue side; their party still very much on a fresh mandate, and the Reds looking so disappointing.

There’s a heap of “winners” in our country who don’t know enough about how leadership translates into delivering the goods for the people they are supposed to serve. No playing around here, I don’t bring an ego about putting pen to paper, but when it comes to leadership, I have a few credentials. When I tell you what the first lesson is, you’ll not have any questions for me about that boast.

The first lesson for leaders is: you must have eyes to see and ears to hear. A leader must surround him/herself with people for their competency, not their sycophancy. The people around a leader must help them to see and hear. No, no, they shouldn’t be people who are about massaging egos. If you need ego massages, you won’t pan out for the people.

Those of you petty bohgaz who like to dislike the British, you’ll have to swallow this next one from their guide book. There are no excuses for leaders when they fail. For failed leaders, there is only abdication or notice pay.

Faaba is back
Oho, Faaba is bak, and that’s great news for the UDP faction that is, let’s be kind here, not enthused that Finnegan has stuck them with a leader who wears the suit and tie of a bank manager even though he never did a day at a teller’s window. Hey, I’m on the periphery; I don’t plan to become a full member of the party until after the next general elections. Yes, God spare life, I’m aiming to become a card- carrying member, not a candidate, for the Reds.

Why not a third party? To that I’ll just say that these third parties refuse to walk into hell for a heavenly cause, so they’ll never win. I won’t say any more bad things about that crowd, because I have a few friends in those camps, and I have to cherish them, because I don’t have many.

Why not the Blue camp? Even if I wanted to, and I don’t, they’d never trust me. I grew up a Goldsonite, not a Praicista. Maybe you could, but I couldn’t see me standing before their ODS and reciting their pledge: I swear allegiance to the PUP, I adore George Price and all his works, I one hundred percent trust Johnny…

I could say welcome back to Mr. Patrick Faber, but hihn jos land and already he is whining about all the UDP projects that the PUP is completing. When I join that party, there’ll have to be some changes.