BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 28, 2018– The timetable for the early retirement of Prime Minister Dean Barrow as leader of his ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) has changed; instead of retiring early enough to give his successor a shot at controlling the reins of government ahead of the November 2020 general elections, Barrow will stay on until his term ends. That announcement came yesterday, Tuesday, via an unusual government press release captioned: “Prime Minister Barrow to Remain in Office Until 2020.”

“Cabinet at its meeting today, November 27th, discussed the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) current trajectory heading towards the 2020 general elections,” said the government press release in its opening paragraph.

The release went on to say that ministers ‘expressed great satisfaction at the evidence of support for the UDP” at the contested constituency conventions which began in early November.

The UDP leadership convention which was scheduled for next March will not take place and instead, “Cabinet agreed to recommend to the UDP National Party Council a revised calendar that would stick to the Party’s Constitution, which states that the next UDP leadership convention cannot occur before January of 2020. As a consequence, the delegates’ conventions that must take place before the leadership convention, will also now be moved back,” the release added.

Prime Minister Barrow will stay on at the urging of his cabinet ministers, said the release.

Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber, the Collet area representative, who is one of the two persons eying the UDP leader position, is not in the country, but the press release declared: “Cabinet makes clear that this position is supported by all Ministers, including those not present at the meeting today but who had previously indicated their agreement.”

The government press release caught the attention of the Opposition, the People’s United Party (PUP), which issued a release captioned: “Cabinet session or political powder session?”

The PUP release opens by saying, “Today, the Government of Belize issued a rare release – not on crime, which is rampant, or on the state of the economy or on the crippling debt. It wasn’t to announce new healthcare initiatives for our failing system. Instead, the Cabinet apparently spent all its time today begging the Prime Minister to stay in office until 2020, if the release is to be believed.”

“As a Party, we are appalled – and indeed any right-thinking Belizean should be appalled and outraged — that our policy-makers wasted time in Cabinet to discuss and debate a matter that is purely political. A discussion and debate on intra-party politicking and maneuvering should have been left for another forum; either for the UDP Secretariat or perhaps for one of those weekly sessions at Brad’s where many UDP policies are apparently formulated”, the PUP release added.

The PUP release ends, “The PUP notes for the record that whether the Prime Minister remains in office until mid-2019, as he previously indicated he would, or whether he stays until 2020 – is of little consequence. He is a lame-duck Prime Minister who the people have already passed judgment on along with the rest of his Cabinet. Only the sentencing remains!”

Due to the amendment to the Belize Constitution that the UDP government passed after it won its super majority in 2008, limiting a prime minister to 3 terms, Prime Minister Barrow cannot lead the UDP in the next general election.