BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 9, 2020– Sunday, July 12, will be a huge day for the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP), because on that day, beginning at 10 a.m., 570 delegates of the party will gather at the ITVET compound on Freetown Road to choose a new Party Leader.
The current UDP leader, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, will end his active political career and step down from the leadership position.
Just about two weeks ago, there were five candidates vying for the position: Hon. John Saldivar, Hon. Patrick Faber, Hon. Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, Hon. Darrell Bradley, and Hon. Omar Figueroa.
Figueroa and Bradley have withdrawn from the race and a new Party Leader will be selected from among Saldivar, Faber and Elrington.
Saldivar had initially been given the nod to ascend to the highest post in the UDP at the party convention on February 9, 2020; he had won handily over his opponent, Faber.
Because of his “too close” association with American fraudsters, revealed in a Utah, USA court, however, Saldivar had to resign from the leadership position that he had just won, and also had to resign from Cabinet.
It will be a historic time for the party, because Hon. Barrow has led them to three straight general election victories.
Whoever wins will have a tough time ahead should the party win the next general elections, slated for November 2020. Whichever party forms the government will have to deal with the country’s horrible crime situation, a crippling external debt, and an economy in shambles even prior to the emergence of COVID-19, but made much worse by the pandemic, among other economic woes.