Third parties and independent candidates form alliance
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With double elections less than five weeks away, the political race is on at full speed. Political ads have increased in all media and press releases and press conferences are coming from all directions. Today, the third party movement and independent candidates came together to launch what they call Belize Unity Alliance or BUA. It is not another third party but rather a coming together of third parties and independent candidates under a support and accountability umbrella. The BUA has a team of nine including candidates from VIP and PNP, Roberto campus, Marcel Bedran, Rufus X, Charlse Leslie Jr., Deonisso Chuc, and Fred Hunter. The BUA leader is VIP’s chairman, Bobby Lopez. While the Deputy leader is PNP’s Will Mehia. Mehia said that today’s launch is history in the making.
Wil Mehia, Deputy Leader, PNP
Since this country was born, did you have a group of independent minded people, gathered at one table, putting up themselves for the parliamentary position? I want to start off by congratulating my colleagues here and declaring that the war is on. We can show this country that Belizeans have had enough.
Two weeks ago, VIP and PNP had held a joint press briefing where they had requested a re-registration of voters. Theyhad also said that they would be requesting international observers for the elections if that was not done. That was carried over to the BUA release today where Bobby Lopez said that BUA is calling on the UDP administration to have international observers for the elections. Lopez also asked the UDP to cease and desist from using any government resources for campaign purposes and to park all Minister's and Area Representative vehicles as of tomorrow which is the day when the Governor General is to issue the writ to dissolve the house of representatives.
Bobby Lopez, Chairman, VIP
We are calling for, as we did two weeks ago, for international observers. It’s the most we can do at this point, to ensure that hopefully there are no further tricks and we can have as best as possible, a free and clean elections on March 7th. At this point there is not much else that we can do. However, I will assure the people of Belize that this group will abide by the law and July we will have a re-registration process. If that process, if we find a lot of those hurry registrants that have come board at the last point was null and void, then we will be looking at some serious repercussions on that. In July, this country will have a re-registration process to ensure that those registered qualify and live in the constituencies that they vote in.
One of the platforms that VIP has campaigned on is the need for a declaration of all campaign funds by each political party and individual. Today, Lopez spoke about the Prevention of Corruption Act of 2007, Part 3. He said that every area representative, town and city official should have submitted a sworn declaration of assets, income and liabilities for the years 2007-2011.
Bobby Lopez
Your annual discourse, and I am speaking to them, every one hundred and elected persons, including the House, the Senate, the Town Councils, the City Councils and the Speaker of the House - before entering your office, you agreed that you will abide by that prevention of corruption in the Public Office Act. It calls for every single elected person to declare the year before they were elected and the year after if they don’t seek re-election. So in the case of the General Elections, every Area Representative should have already filed for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. We are now into 2012. Every Town and City Council officials should have filed for 2008, which is the year before the 2009 elections - 2009, 2010 and 2011. In lieu of the failure and current absence of an Integrity Commission, we are calling on them to do the right thing, because they are the ones that were elected to rid corruption from this country. So in the absence of the integrity commission, we are holding them to publish in the newspapers - if you have nothing to hide and you should not, if you were clean and honest in your dealings in the last three and four years - to publish for public scrutiny, because eventually that is what happens, it is published in the gazette,. However, in the absence of an Integrity Commission, we the people of Belize are calling on every elected person to publish it by March 7th.
According to Lopez, when it comes to campaign finances, members of BUA are all going to have transparency and disclosure.
Bobby Lopez
This group will be doing that, in fact the VIP has already published a Belmopan City Council campaign budget and the statement of finances in our account and our Belize City Council have also sent that in. So every individual here will be publishing their campaign financing and showing how it is being spent, because I assure you the people of Belize, there will be no vote buying in this group; there will be no bribing of anyone in this group. We will adhere to very strict principles and we will not tolerate corruption.
Independent candidates that are part of BUA were all introduced at today’s launch. Each had a turn to spoke and they appealed to the undecided voters of Belize to make a change for the country of Belize.
Independent Candidate
Forty percent of the voters in Belize are undecided. The two political parties share the other sixty percent, mostly likely thirty/thirty, because they say it is too close to call. We are asking you forty percent – here is a time to make a change and break up the two party system which divided our country right down the middle - family against family and village against village, victimization from who’s in and who’s out, but all of us are one, all of us are Belizeans. We bring to the table a cross section of different professions or experiences. We have a cane farmer, a businessman, another businessman and manufacturer; I am a farmer, he’s works in construction and is an advocate for the poor; we have a tourist from Placencia and we have a rice farmer.
Independent Candidate
The political system, both PUP and the UDP are designed that the alliance of area representative is to the party first. At every single decision that they make will be politically motivated and that is one of the main fundamental inhibitions for these rural communities to progress.
Nomination day is set for February 17th and according to BUA, they are hopeful that more independent candidates will step up to have representations in all constituencies.
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