BELIZE CITY, Tues. Jan. 27, 2015–Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca apparently is unfazed by the introduction of former Financial Secretary Dr. Carla Barnett into the political arena, in a bid by the ruling United Democratic Party to capture that seat whenever the next elections are held.
General elections are due in 2017, but Fonseca said that regardless of whether those elections are called early or at the scheduled time, he is confident not only of a win – but a win by a greater margin than he had garnered in the 2012 general elections.
“Any time they call elections, the results will be the same in Freetown,” Fonseca asserted.
Fonseca exuded nothing but confidence in reacting to Barnett’s candidacy, which he said he did not expect, since he did not know that she has had political aspirations.
However, Fonseca, the leader of the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP), said that he had heard of plans to bring Barnett into the race being discussed at UDP cocktail parties.
“I respect Dr. Barnett. I admire her career of public service, but it was a terrible mistake for her to come into Freetown. I am very confident that I will be able to win in a very decisive way in Freetown,” he added.
Barnett had reportedly left the public service in 2007 after scandal broke over a $33 million government guarantee to Universal Health Services (UHS), issued under the Musa administration, but she resurfaced a year later as financial advisor to the Barrow administration.
Fonseca said that the reason he had been given for Barnett’s departure was medical and not related to any issue over the UHS guarantee. He said, though, that he did not see any documentation with Barnett’s stated reason for departure and neither did he speak to her directly.
That issue notwithstanding, Fonseca said that the issue of alleged corruption raised with respect to the UHS guarantee is “not an issue at all – not in Freetown!”
“The people of Freetown know me. They are not concerned at all,” said Fonseca, adding that he has been elected in the division three times based on his record and his relationship with his constituents.
Fonseca said that his integrity is on par with Dr. Barnett’s, and what people vote for is a combination of party and personality, and he is assured by his personal relationship with voters which he said he has built up now for more than 14 years.
Fonseca went on to note that he survived the “red tide” of the UDP in 2008.
“If there was time for us to go down, it would have [been] then,” he said.
He said that the narrowing of his margin of victory in 2012 was a consequence of him having to fulfill the new role of being the leader of the PUP, and trying to get his party to win the election.
The PUP have done quite a bit in Freetown, and they have assisted constituents with getting lots, Fonseca added.
“The PUP built Belama. All those subdivisions were built and created by the PUP,” Fonseca said.
He told us that apart from that, he and his party have helped people tremendously, with educational opportunities in particular, and they have invested in a preschool in the area, as well as led developments of parks, playgrounds and basketball courts.
However, the reality is that when a representative is not aligned with the ruling party, the people “know that we are being punished,” he said.
Fonseca further stated, “they understand that, and that’s why they are more than ever committed to returning a PUP government, and they want their representative to be in government and in this case, to be the leader of the country.”
