Shyne wants Faber and Panton gone from House; Speaker says no

BELMOPAN, Wed. Sept. 11, 2024

As AMANDALA last reported, about an hour after the press conference held by the Alliance for Democracy (AFD) on Wednesday, September 4, the United Democratic Party (UDP) leadership issued a release announcing that the standard bearer posts of AFD leader Hon. Tracy Panton and Collet area rep Hon. Patrick Faber were vacant. Hon. Panton is currently the UDP’s two-time area representative for the Albert Division, while Hon. Faber is the five-time winner for the UDP in the Collet Division. Standard bearer vacancies were also declared for Belize Rural Central and Belmopan, posts held by Beverly Williams and John Saldivar, respectively. The next day, UDP leader Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Hon. Valerie Woods, to inform her that, “by their actions,” Panton and Faber had resigned as members of the UDP. He therefore asked that at the next sitting of the House, Woods declare that the two have vacated their seats as per the Constitution of Belize.

In his letter, Barrow also included a notification that the Central Executive Committee of the UDP had voted unanimously to accept the resignations of Panton and Faber.

Having gotten wind of the letter, Faber today took to social media and wrote a brief “Open Letter to the People of Belize” in which he pointed out that this is the second time Barrow is attempting to have his seat in the House of Representatives declared vacant. Faber declares in the post, “This is not the first time he has wrongly invoked the Constitution for political gain—his initial attempt months ago was also rejected. Barrow’s actions display either a profound misunderstanding of the Constitution or a malicious intent to undermine my position. Either way, this conduct is unbecoming of someone who seeks to lead both the opposition and the UDP. His repeated attempts to misuse the law raise serious questions about his fitness to lead.” Faber calls the claims that he has resigned from the UDP “baseless.”

Saldivar subsequently described Barrow’s move as “The actions of a madman!!!” “This man wants by-elections in Collet and Albert. October 20th we take back our Party,” he declared. The October 20 reference is to the upcoming “Unity Convention” that the AFD intends to hold to recall Barrow and install an interim leader of the UDP. At their press conference on September 4, the AFD members asserted that they have the majority support of the delegates of the UDP’s National Convention (the highest decision-making body of the Party).

Panton would later issue her own statement, declaring, “We have not resigned. We have not been invited to resign. We will not resign; and, we will not be forced to resign.” She noted that the Constitution of Belize is “very clear on how and when duly elected members of the House of Representatives are deemed to have resigned or have vacated their seats.” She added, “While the LOO and his minions can choose to disregard the Constitution of the UDP, they cannot disregard or usurp the Supreme Law of the land.” Panton labelled Barrow “a desperate man,” but affirmed that she will not cower “to bullies or to dictators or to the LOO minions, for that matter.”

While many were waiting with bated breaths, anticipating what would happen at the next House meeting set for Friday, September 13, the House Speaker has already reached a decision on the matter, and her September 9 letter to Barrow informing him of that decision was leaked. In the letter, Woods tells Barrow that his interpretation of the Belize Constitution is erroneous. While Barrow made his request under Section 59A(1), the Speaker cited the section in full to point out to Barrow that the stipulations therein have not been met. The section reads, “Where a person resigns from being a member of a political party under the circumstances referred to in section 59(2)(e), that person shall, within seven days of so resigning, inform the leader in the House of Representatives of the political party as a candidate of which that person was elected, and the leader of the political party shall so notify the Speaker in writing of such resignation.” Section 59(2)(e) states, “if, having been a candidate of a political party and elected to the House of Representatives as a candidate of that political party, he resigns from that political party or crosses the floor…” Woods emphasizes in her letter to Barrow that as per the Constitution, the members have to inform him of their resignation, and points to both members publicly stating that they have not resigned. Woods then concludes, “Having considered the content of your letter and the pronouncements made in the public domain by the members for the Albert and Collet constituencies that they have not resigned; I am not satisfied that the circumstances referred to in section 59(2)(e) exist. Therefore, I will not be making any declarations at the next Sitting of the House of Representatives on vacating of seats by the Members for the Albert and Collet constituencies.”

Before the latest developments, the AFD members who are part of the House of Representatives had been asked at their press conference where they would sit at the National Assembly, given that Barrow remains the Leader of the Opposition and could make representations to the Speaker in that regard. Faber questioned, “But why do you think that the Speaker would encourage the current leader? But where will we be put other than right on the Opposition benches? And we could still talk just as much and do what we want … Weh paat yoh siddown clearly noh matter … we can still raise the kind of awareness against the Government.” Faber then declared, “We are UDPs and we will not be taken out of our own Party weh wi put blood, sweat and tears eena!”

Political observers note the difference in this case – one in which they say UDP leader Barrow is going for the jugular – and that of Marcel Cardona back in 2011, who, incidentally, has said that “constructive resignation” does not exist. In his case, when he was declared constructively resigned by the leadership of the UDP for speaking against the budget and abstaining during the vote, it was his own party that was in government. The then UDP leader, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow, had stated that having made representations to the then Speaker on Cardona’s actions, he would leave the seating arrangement up to the Speaker. In the end, Cardona was placed at the far end of the then Opposition PUP side, though with the label “non-affiliated” – but he served out his term.

The current internal issues have been described as acute by staunch UDP member Delroy Cuthkelvin who, along with other Barrow supporters, has been doing media rounds, as AFD members previously did. Speaking on Open Your Eyes, the UDP’s standard bearer for Caribbean Shores, Dr. Nelma Mortis-Jones said “the political party itself is flat on the ground …”, but she was quick to point out that there is nowhere else for the Party to go from there but up. Cuthkelvin noted that the Party has had difficulties before, and it has pulled itself together whenever an election has drawn near.