_{(l-r) Alberto August, Acting Chairman, UDP and Hon. Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition}

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 4, 2025

The National Party Council (NPC) of the Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) is expected to meet virtually on Tuesday night to vote on a single item on the agenda: the postponement of the National Convention to elect a new party leader. The new date being recommended by the Central Executive is Sunday, November 30.

Acting Party Chairman, Alberto August told Amandala that a new schedule of special caretaker conventions pushes past the original date of October 5th, forcing a delay in the national convention.

The leadership of the party deems the caretaker conventions in 18 divisions as part of the process to reset the party, even though there is a divergent opinion from the leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tracy Panton and her supporters that the National Convention should have come first. They also believe that standard bearer conventions should have been held in all 26 divisions where no UDP candidate was victorious in the March 12, 2025 general elections. But, with the High Court having recognized the Moses “Shyne” Barrow executive as the rightful leadership of the party, even Panton supporters submitted their applications for caretakers.

The application deadline was Friday, July 25, and there were over 50 accepted applications with another five (Hernan Riverol for Corozal Bay, Denny Grijalva for Orange Walk Central, Elodio Aragon, Jr. for Orange Walk East, Andrew Bradley for Caribbean Shores and Gary Matus for Fort George) being rejected by the party’s 3-member Nominations Committee chaired by Sergio Chuc. Meanwhile, Philip Willoughby submitted two applications, one for Freetown and another for Port Loyola, but only the former was accepted.

Notably, though the day prior he had affirmed that the conventions were unconstitutional and illegal, John Saldivar still submitted an application to run again in Belmopan. However, his application was rejected. August explained that the application did not conform to the application template. Jose Uc Espat, for his part, withdrew his application to run in Freetown.

In the end, there will be four endorsement conventions and 14 contested conventions. To be endorsed are Omar Vasquez in Corozal Bay; Marlo Perera in Orange Walk East; Zenobia Young in Caribbean Shores; and Dale Pelayo in Cayo South (only he applied to run for the division).

The conventions are set to occur every Sunday, beginning on August 24 through to October 12. None will occur on the patriotic holidays in September. For the Orange Walk Central division, Yara Cal will go up against Andi Yam. The Belize Rural North division will be contested by Errol Gentle, Delcia Chan, Eustace Shaw and Alphius Gillett. In Belize Rural Central, there is Kerry Belisle, Edward Broaster and Beverly Williams. For Belize Rural South, it will be Senator Gabriel Zetina against Estevan Perera who ran under the People’s Development Movement in the Belize Rural Central division in the last general elections. In Freetown, Angelie Perez is pitted against Philip Willoughby; and in Fort George, it will be Freddy Cantiliano going up against Philip Usher. For Lake Independence, Cecil Jenkins will challenge Wilmore Tablada; and in Collet, Cherrymae Jones will go up against Enrique Silva. Notably, former Collet standard bearer, Patrick Faber did not submit an application.

The Pickstock division will see two candidates: Alobi Young and Jason Staine. Dr. Abraham Flowers, Windell Lemoth AC Castillo and Carlos Perera will all vie for Port Loyola; and Khalid Belisle, Eugene Brown, Ralston Frazer and Louise Willis will contest for the position in Belmopan.

In a twist, after being rejected “unceremoniously and unconstitutionally,” Saldivar announced on Sunday that, so as to “not prolong the fight within the party,” he will support Willis, whom he describes as “the best candidate out of the four” approved to run. Willis is a former UDP two-term councilor and served as deputy mayor.

The constituency to see the most candidates is Dangriga: Aaron Anderson, Simeon Lorenzo, Earth Lopez, Robert Webster and Macario Augustine, Jr. Further south in Stann Creek West, two known candidates return in Aldon Tasher and Ivan Williams; while in Toledo East, it will be Franklin Polonio against Duwane Wagner.

Today, when we spoke with Panton she reaffirmed that, in her view, the process is in complete disregard of the Party’s constitution and cannot be legitimized. However, she says she respects the position of many of her colleagues who chose to still participate, believing they need to stay involved in the process or else they “have zero chances of trying to get the party back on its right footing.” According to Panton, they consider that she is safe and on the inside already, given that she won her seat in the last general elections.

Panton insists that her supporters are being penalized, and pointed out that everyone is so exhausted by the prolonged disarray in the party, that not even “many of those candidates that Shyne Barrow hand-selected and put in constituencies to contest us, did not apply for the caretaker conventions. No Jose Uc, no David Almendarez. So, not even the candidates that he had hoped to apply, applied, because I think we all recognize it has gone too far…people are exhausted.”

Asked whether the number of applicants is much lower than expected, Panton remarked, “The fact is, even in its most deplorable state, there are still members of the society who want to be involved in the party’s rebuilding.” On the other hand, August says Panton and her supporters did not go out to “talent spot,” and did nothing to attract anyone to the party. In fact, he says, they were “seeking to discourage people – even their own people – from applying to contest these conventions.” August highlighted that there should be another round of conventions, this time for standard bearers, before the next general elections, when they may see other applicants.

When confronted with the view that the conventions are being rushed, and noting that the new schedule of caretaker conventions is due to the tight schedule originally being rejected by many of the candidates who would have had little time to campaign, August again blamed Panton. He stated, “All of this was occasioned by that unfortunate incident that occurred at the party headquarters on June 14.” The reference is to the disruption by Panton’s supporters of an NPC meeting where August said they would have set in motion the process to reset the party, beginning with the vote to reinstate all the members who were deemed expelled.

Panton today indicated that if after the dust has settled, her colleagues and the emerging caretakers support her approach to leadership, she will decide if she participates in the leadership convention.