BELIZE CITY, Tues. Feb. 2, 2021– The PUP have been gearing up for the upcoming Municipal Elections and have been working on assembling their municipal slates countrywide. On Saturday, January 30, six new councilor-candidates were introduced to the Belize City Council slate following a convention held at the Belize Elementary School gymnasium.
Chairman of the PUP, Hon. Henry Charles Usher, briefly discussed with the media this week how those candidates were selected. According to Usher the National Executive met in December and decided to create both a vetting committee to screen all applicants and steering committees for each municipality to determine a way forward, given the new social restrictions that are in place due to COVID-19. Based on the party’s constitution there was one delegate appointed for every twenty-five votes obtained in the various constituencies in the last general elections.
As a result, there were a total of seven hundred and seven (707) delegates who voted in Saturday’s convention electronically. When asked if he considered the convention to be a potential super-spreader event, Hon. Usher responded:
“I’m not a doctor, and I’m sure you’re not either. But certainly, we followed every single regulation out there when we had that convention. It was done at the Belize Elementary School compound; it was in the gym. We had markers set up outside where persons had to stand six feet apart. We did it by constituencies, meaning that there were time slots for each constituency, so you didn’t have all seven hundred and seven showing up at the same time…so I completely disagree with your statement.”
On Sunday there were three conventions held in the west for Belmopan, San Ignacio and Benque at which councilor candidates were also chosen by delegate vote and announced on Monday. Last week the Corozal Town Council slate, the Orange Walk Town Council slate and the San Pedro Town Council slate for the PUP were all sworn in, while the members of the Dangriga and Punta Gorda slates will be selected at conventions over the upcoming weekend.