Belize’s Prime Minister John Briceno has called general elections for March 12 as the country becomes the first of several Caribbean Community nations to face the polls this year.
Briceno took to the airwaves on Tuesday to tell the nation that his governing People’s United Party (PUP) will call elections nine months before they are due as he seeks a new five-year mandate amid political bickering in the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP).
Parties will submit a list of candidates and other documents on Feb. 25, which the government has designated nomination day. A total of 31 seats are up for grabs, with the PUP trying to defend the 26 it won in late 2020.
“Election Day is your chance, a chance to be cherished, where, in free and fair elections, you choose the person and the party that can best represent your interests,” Briceño said, noting economic and other improvements in the country of just under 300,000 in the last five years. “With this sterling report card in hand, and after careful reflection and prayer, I have decided to deliver. Now is an appropriate time to seek from you a renewal of our electoral mandate.”
As campaigning has stepped up, election fever has gripped several other regional bloc member states. Elections in Suriname are slated for May 25, and a plethora of parties are seeking seats in the 51-member assembly as parties scramble to take the reins of power. Commercial oil and gas production is set to begin in 2028.
Jamaica and Trinidad are also constitutionally bound to hold elections this year. On the weekend, the governing Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and the main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) leaked internal polls, showing that both led by about six points.
In Trinidad, Prime Minister Keith Rowley, 75, is preparing to hand over government leadership to Energy Minister Stuart Young, 50. Young will be the first citizen of Chinese extraction to be a head of government. The main opposition United National Congress (UNC) says citizens are tired of the administration and will vote it out in polls due in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, voters in the Turks and Caicos (TCI) reelected the governing Progressive National Party (PNP) following a landslide victory that gave it 16 of the 19 seats as it trounced the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) on Feb. 8. Premier Washington Misick said he was elated at the victory and plans to continue delivering for the people.
“First of all, I think I should say thank God Almighty for the victory that we had last Friday night. I want to thank the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands who reposed such confidence in the PNP and in me as leader to continue to manage the affairs of this country. I do so with the greatest humility and swear that I would do so exclusively in their interest and the interest of no one else.”
