Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Last week, the physical circumstances accompanying the discovery of missing man Raheem Usher's body shocked the north - and today something far more grisly appeared.
Two dead men - recently killed by the cartel in Mexico and brought home to be buried - had their graves savagely invaded last night. Michael Whittaker's body was hauled out and decapitated while Aaron Tun's grave was set on fire.
Today in Orange Walk, the Compol discussed these unprecedented acts of violence against the dead.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Yes we got that information this morning and that has been confirmed, police visited the gravesite this morning and they saw the grave was disturbed the bodies were exhumed and a check of the body revealed that the skull is missing so that is a matter that the police are looking at this time."
"The second young man I was told that he was not dug up but they had bored some hole on the tomb and had tried to light it on fire. That's what I was told about the other one."
JO- "Compol this is definitely a sign what kind of sign does the police department take this as?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Obviously there is someone who is trying to send a message. I don't know how dead they wanted these men to be dead but it is something we are looking at."
So, did the Mexican cartel do it? The Commissioner doesn't think so. In a statement to 7news this evening, he said, quote, "This was not done by any cartel group but by locals who may have had issues with Whitaker. Police are currently looking for some persons for questions including a police officer whose name has been implicated." End quote.
On the police officer he clarified "The police is currently looking for a police officer whose name has been mentioned before and his associates in connection with this incident. The commissioner also confirmed that the said police officer who took leave following a family emergency is also being sought so that a letter requesting him to show cause why he should not be dismissed from the department can be served on him."
And if you're wondering what's really behind it all, two relatives Kurtis and Raheem Usher were killed - and personally loyal to them believe Tunn and Whitaker were responsible.
And there is also a murder to report in the north - though this one has nothing to do with the cartel or local counterparts.
A well known taxi man was targeted in a vicious robbery last night. Jomarie Lanza was in Trial Farm today and here's what she learned:
Investigators suspect that 51 year old taxi driver Romualdo Vasquez may have been the victim of a robbery last nigh in Trial Farm Orange Walk. Vasquez had picked up a passenger but somewhere along this stretch on San Martin street a struggle ensued between him and that person and he ended up crashing this metal gate at the corner of Black Water street. Vasquez made an attempt to seek help by crawling out of the vehicle but due to the degree of his wounds he passed away at the scene.
Chester Williams,Commissioner of Police "Police were called to this area late last night or early this morning and upon arrival they encountered a vehicle that was crashed into a building or a tree and inside the vehicle was the lifeless body of a male person that exhibited stab wounds. The Body was taken to the hospital where it was pronounced dead on arrival. Information so far is that the deceased was in the company of some person in the same vehicle and that person may have inflicted injuries to him and then flee the vehicle and went about his business so police are currently actively investigating that matter with a view to be able to see if we can identify the person who flee from the vehicle when the incident occurred."
Reporter "What does it appear to be at this time?"
Chester Williams,Commissioner of Police "It can either be a case of robbery or a case of 2 friends arguing we don't know who was in the vehicle with him at the time who escaped so we will have to find out who that person is to arrive at a more definitive motive."
Vasquez had been a member of the Community Taxi service in Orange walk for the past 8 years. Today his fellow cabbies were saddened. His colleagues say that when they heard the news they were in disbelief:
Voice of: Justin Chan, Community Taxi Service Member "When we heard that happened, to the man last night, when we heard it first we thought it was an accident but when we saw that they killed him. They cut his throat and so, I really feel it for his family, his wife and the kids because during these times he would be here with his baby feeding her and 1:00 he would take her back to school. Mr Vasquez was a person that he didn't mess with anyone, he worked he is here until the last bus to take people you know. And it's so sad that they did this to the man that way."
"The last time I saw him was about 5:30 my next colleague saw him around 7:15 he was still here around 7:15, so he was still here at 7:15 so yeah."
"We don't know if he picked up the person from here or out there you understand me so we don't know If its from terminal or from out there he picked up the person, because how they had that road blocked the bus around that time I think they stop coming so I don't know if its out there he picked up the person or right here."
And now the other members of the association are on edge and asking whether it is safe to still be picking up passengers late at night
Justin Chan, Community Taxi Service Member "I don't know who to trust you understand me? It could be anybody and for a little bit of money because we don't really make a lot of money out here for them to chance the man just like that, if you are going to rob the man then rob him and let him live you know but don't kill the man."
"And he was a person that worked for his family you know, and we send Ms Rosita condolences to the family, to his daughters, to his mom, everybody."
He was shot in the foot by police at the Michael Finnegan market two days ago - and today Edward Scrubbie Saldano had to be taken to court tin a wheelchair to be charged for discharging a firearm in public and 2 counts of gun and ammunition possession charges.
In court, Saldano pleaded not guilty to the 3 charges. Saldano, who complained he needed further medical treatment, was remanded to the Belize Central Prison. The Magistrate ordered that he be taken back to the hospital for treatment before being taken on remand.
5 men accused of robbing a Western Dairies truck, one of whom is an employee of Western Dairies, were arraigned today at the magistrates court in Belize city.
All 5 men, 33 year old Deandre Mckoy, 28 year old Tarique Gillett, 24 year old Christian Castillo, 19 year old Emory Lino and 23 year old Willman Espinall were all charged jointly with conspiracy to commit robbery. Mckoy, Gillett, Castillo and Lino were all charged jointly with robbery.
The group all pleaded not guilty to the charges and were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until June 2, 2025. Espinal, Gillett and Mckoy were represented in court by attorney Oj Elrington who submitted on their behalf under the crime control and criminal justice act that the offense of conspiracy to commit robbery is not one of the offenses listed as an offense the court cannot grant bail for.
However the magistrate still denied bail on her own discretion. Elrington also requested to put on record that his client was allegedly beaten into handing over his cellphone. He told us more about this:
OJ Elrington, Attorney "Our submission was that client Mr. William Espinal was not in the same position since he was solely charged with conspiracy to commit robbery which we submitted did not fall under section 16 of the crime control and justice acts which prohibits a magistrate from granting from an accused to an accused. The learned magistrate agreed that it did not fall under section 16, however she submitted that she would exercise her discretion and not grant him bail still and so obviously now we're in the process of applying for bail for the defendants in the matter."
"Yes well my client has put on record, he told me that the he told me and he said that all he submitted when he was interviewed that he was beaten by the police and forced to open a phone and that he was he was subject to police abuse essentially that the police were trying to force him to make certain admissions which he did not agree with."
Reporter "This client Mr. Espinal, is he one of the truck drivers for the company?"
OJ Elrington, Attorney "Yes he is one of the persons who is a driver for western dairies I believe it is."
Espinal was also allegedly in possession of a firearm which is also why she chose not to grant him bail. Elrington gave more details on today's proceedings.
Yesterday you went along with us on the campaign trail with Kaya Cattouse. She's going up against the current two term area rep, Tracy Panton.
As the election day draws near, Panton, who is leading one faction of the UDP finds herself under attack from all sides: her rival party leader has sent Jose Uc Espat against herald Anthony Mahler has pledged to throw his campaign machine behind Kaya Cattouse - now that he's already won by default.
But, Panton says she's survived heavier attacks from bigger PUDP enemies and survived because of the relationship she's built with her constituents. And she believes that will save her again.
We joined her yesterday evening through the streets of the Albert constituency. Courtney Menzies has this story.
For the first time the Albert division will see two women facing off against each other, but whether they will remain with the rep they've had for the past two terms or go with the newbie will be seen on March 12th. And while Kaya Cattouse is confident she can bring home the win, Tracy Panton says she has a secret weapon.
Courtney Menzies: "You have a comparative edge in that you've been working in this constituency well over a decade. Do you feel like that's maybe your secret weapon when you go against your opponent who's a newcomer?"
Tracy Panton, TP UDP Area Rep., Albert "I think my secret weapon is love and respect. I respect everybody in this constituency, whether they actively support me or not. I think the time has come in Belize where we have to elevate the political discourse. We can agree to disagree but ultimately we're all Belizeans and we all want what is good for this country. The people in Albert know that I love them. When things are good I love them and when things are not good, I love them, when we're in office I love them, when we're not in office I love them and I am accessible, they can find me, I think that's the secret weapon."
And while Panton is seeking to elevate the political discourse, every election sees its fair share of mudslinging. This time around, her opponent has made comments about her appearance and what she deems as her lack of work in the Albert Division. But Panton isn't fazed by any of it.
Tracy Panton, TP UDP Area Rep., Albert "I really don't think she has any moral authority to say that. She has been in city council for 3 terms and the city council is responsible for the streets, drains, garbage, and we see that I have to be calling city council to clear empty lots, I don't think she has the moral authority to say that. If she was active in the division working as a city councillor, maybe then she would be able to speak to those issues."
Courtney Menzies: "Most recently your opponent made very not-so-nice comments towards you during a speech she gave. you came out against it, saying you won't let it get you out and whatnot. Do you find it particularly disheartening because like yourself she's also a woman?"
Tracy Panton, TP UDP Area Rep., Albert "I think that's the part that I find most disheartening, I've always been supportive of young politicians, of young people, particularly young women, I believe we need more women in politics and I am encouraged when I see young people offer themselves for office. It shows a certain level of immaturity I believe and I hope she has learnt from it. She took quite a backlash from all over this country, in fact I believe she's lost some voters because of it. I had a voter just this morning who I've always known to support the PUP, and an older woman who called me this morning to say I'm voting for you, I don't want that kind of representative being my voice here in Albert. Hopefully she will learn from it."
And though Panton won by less than 50 votes in the last election, she believes this time around, it'll be different.
Courtney Menzies: "Last election you won by like 40 votes which is a close call. Do you feel like the energy this time around is different than then?"
Tracy Panton, TP UDP Area Rep., Albert "Of course. The UDP lost 26 seats. We were up against a blue tsunami. I was up against 4 men fighting against me in Albert. My opponent and three other very formidable leaders of the PUP were actively working on the ground in Albert and I was able to withstand that tsunami so certainly I have no doubt that we have done our work, we continue to do our work, we remain humble, humility is very important when you seek to serve others. Humility and respect and ultimately there's a genuine connection between myself and the voters here in Albert."
Tomorrow we'll take you to Mesopotamia with Lee Mark Chang and Shyne Barrow.
And one of the PUP's trying to take down Panton is Anthony Mahler, the Pickstock area rep.
He's got all the time in the world because he's already won his election - by default.
And while many have viewed that as a strategic play, Mahler told us today that he was ready to put up a fight for the Pickstock constituency and was actually looking forward to being out in the field for elections. We asked Mahler why he thinks his opponent stepped down and here's how he answered us.
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism "Well I am disappointed too I am an ultra competitive individual and I wanted to put boots on the ground and continue to serve the people of Pickstock by winning the next election but it did not play out like that but to be honest I can understand the situation from my opponent because if you don't have the resources then you can't really compete and you will just embarrass yourself right."
Reporter- "There is always the criticism that Mahler buy over his opponent so now you have a chance to respond to that."
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism "Well they said that about me in 2012 and 2011 when I stepped down from Caribbean shores and no man or woman or dog can come and tell you that they gave me any money. So it was a strategic decision for me at that time and I can understand because I was in that position so anybody who says they gave me money, come and prove that to me."
And while Mahler won't be as active in his constituency on election day he says that he plans to assist his other party colleagues in their division, primarily in the southside areas. He says his schedule definitely has not lightened.
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism "Well I've promised the prime minister that I will try to help as many candidates in Belize city especially on the South side and we will see where we go from there but my schedule hasn't lightened, it has gotten a lot more intense."
"Well I have been walking around over the last week almost since nomination day and since I found out that I wouldn't go to an election. Like I said I really wanted to go to an election to show the Pickstock machinery is alive and well and it is one of the best in the entire country. And I just want to use this opportunity to thank all the residents of Pickstock, all the campaign team for "change agent" and "more blessings" message. Thank you, thank you thank you."
And while Mahler is now - basically - playing help defense - who's looking out for the voters? With the multiplicity of candidates carrying the color red, voter education is critical. And that falls to the Elections and Boundaries Department who have to provide that voter awareness within a very small window of time.
Today in Belmopan, we spoke to the Chief Elections Officer:
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "Well, we have put out some ads. And if you notice, we tailor the answers there because many people are saying that in Belize we vote by colors, which, it's true. But again, every single ballot paper, and not only this time around, the format of the ballot paper is, in the representation of the people act and so we must abide by that. So every candidate has a number on the ballots, right. And the numbers are assigned alphabetically based on the surname of the candidates. And so that is how the names appear in a ballot paper. And that is required by law. So we can't decide who goes first, who goes second. Right. That's set in law. And so, I want to encourage voters, you could look for a number, you can look for the name. And you could also look for the color. When we have village council elections, village council elections is by a name and number. So over 50% of the population who vote in a village council election are used to name and numbers. They're just not used to doing it when it comes to a general election. But in order not to create confusion, I just want the last persons to pay attention to the ballot paper. You could look for a number for your candidates. You could look for their name. You could also look for the color and put one x in one box beside the name of the candidate that you want to vote for."
And so voters will have to be extra vigilant, especially in areas like Port Loyola, where the Elections and Boundaries Commission has decreed that three candidates will carry the color red.
It's as close to the definition of a hot mess as you can come - and today the Chief Elections Officer conceded that it's unfortunate - but it's not their call:
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "Well, when it comes to what was on the ballot, that's basically a decision that every candidate would make for his or herself. They are allowed to indicate if there was an issue on the ballot paper, because sometimes, people claim that nobody really knows their real name. And, it's unfortunate what is happening. As a public officer and many people might think that when it comes to politics, we're involved. But we're separate and apart. We have no political affiliation as public officers. And so whatever the commission decides, those are what we actually carry forward. I am not a commission member. I have no vote on the commission because I know some people tend to confuse the too many times. But we all have our roles and responsibilities. And so, we know that the commission is made up of five persons, and so they're the ones who would vote on any decisions that needs to be taken."
And what will international elections observers say when they see the ballots? Well, Tamai says that will be up to the OAS observers:
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "I can tell you that the OAS has expressed interest, the government of Belize has invited them and they had expressed interest in coming and so the OAS will be observing the elections. We also had a request from the US Embassy who requested to observe the elections as well, and so on that day, we will see persons from the OAS and from the U.S. embassy, observing the elections across the country."
And one division that will be trying to make a case with those observers is the UDP Cayo North. They objected to 124 names on the list and the Magistrate struck out 23 of them. The other 101 were in the process of being transferred - and the magistrate said they cannot be transferred - but they still ended up on the Cayo North list.
The chief elections officer discussed it:
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "Well, that is a matter for the court, before the courts. And, I don't believe we could try the matter in the public. And so, because an appeal was filed, the court would make the decision on those. And so we had during the transfer period whereby it was 101 persons and we had 23 persons when it was the annual revision. Like I said, both of them is a matter before the High Court. And so, we must await the decision of the High Court for us to either remove or insert persons in other divisions."
Courtney Menzies: "In terms of the other 23 who were supposed to transfer, that was supposed to happen in July. So what happens, considering the elections are March, do they continue on the Cayo North list or do they get transferred early?"
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "No, they are still on the Cayo North list because like I said, the representation of the people act specifically states that whenever a decision is made at the High Court, the High Court will inform the registering officer, and only then will the registering officer be able to take out those persons from the list or leave them on the list. So it has to be a decision that the court makes. And so till then we cannot take any action."
Courtney Menzies: "Is it frustrating for your office that mass political parties, they get involved in these type of fraudulent schemes, they transfer people who don't live into the area, you know, and then they pay them to transfer and all of these things. Is it frustrating for you guys? Is there anything that can be done to sort of minimize this or reduce or completely eliminate this type of corruption?"
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "Well, I always say, and for me, it goes, as a citizen of Belize as well, it goes both ways, because I would only hope that the citizens, we don't allow for those things to happen, because every single application that comes to this department our officers go out and conduct investigation. We have investigation sheets whereby the persons would sigh, the law speaks to the chief occupant. And so, when our officers go to the person's house, if the chief occupant says that the person lives there, it is a challenge for us to dispute that the person does not live there. We do not have the authority to go inside that person's house and search their houses to see. And I will tell you some people would get crafty. Some of them may well, you know, I put a picture of the person in the house. So even if you come, the picture is there and there's so many different things. We have seen cases as well where our offices disallows some persons, and when they go to court, they actually present receipts in court to say they were renting the houses."
"And so, yes, it becomes frustrating at many times because then all sorts of accusations come from it. But everybody has to do their part. We should be each other's keepers in this and just don't wait until when an election is being called to make all these accusations and all these things."
As we told you at the top of the news - there was a murder in Trial Farm Village last night.
And today, police opened up a new substation there.
The Minister of Tourism joined forces with the Belize Police department to inaugurate the first police substation in trial farm orange walk this morning.
Now what does tourism have to do with a village police station?
And while building a new substation is one thing, it can't function to its capacity unless there are enough officers on rotation. And that's a big ask for the police department which is in high demand. We asked the commissioner if at times they do run into issues when it comes to ensuring each station is fully staffed, and he said yes that often he feels they tend to spread themselves thin, but hopefully this will be remedied soon.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Well the truth is yes we are stretched thin. But there is also a need for us to expand and to decentralise our services. At the end of the day we provide a service to the community and when we have stations that are not so accessible to the public, it tends to take away that sense of security from the people and so yes as much as we see stretched to a certain extent, we have to find ways to be able to make sure that we reach as much people as we can. And again we have a recruit squad in training which should be coming out very shortly and while we may not be able to fully staff the station right now when the recruits come out of training late may early June we will fully staff this police station."
And while they are stretched thin, the police should be flush with cash. The government had allocated a million dollars towards the Police department's Northern operations in the current fiscal year to strengthen their presence along the Belize - Mexico border. But with all the heightened narco activity these past few weeks, the Compol says that they had no other choice but to ask GOB for extra funds to increase their resilience along the border. The compol told us how much more they got and for what it will be used.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Well the truth is the government has spent over a million dollars, a million was in the first instance since then we have gone back to the prime minister and made a request for additional funds and those were also approved. As I have said before, the government has shown its commitment in making sure that we are able to police the northern corridor as well as the northern border areas and so the monies are being spent in that area looking at resources for the team to operate effectively. We have purchased ammunition, we have purchased firearms, vehicles, drones, body armour name it we have done so with a due to make sure the officers who work along the northern border are equipped and safe. And yes one can say that we still say instances now and then and certainly the border area is extremely huge and very porous so there will be instances now and then but the truth to be told we have seen a tremendous reduction in those instances. I think that the team the police and the BDF working along the northern irregular border area are doing exemplary work and the work they are doing has yielded great success and we have seen a significant reduction in the cartels coming over to Belize."
He fought valiantly for his client Jerry Enriquez's attempt to stop the election from proceeding with an uneven voters list, and now And an Ramlogan will have to pay a high cost for his attempt to cut government off at the pass.
Justice of the High Court, Tawanda Hondora issued a ruling today on the costs awarded for the application to try and block the elections.
At the end of it, he ordered Senior Counsel Ramlogan to pay half of the costs incurred by the Attorney General pertaining to the three applications for interim relief. He says he orders this, quote, "in view of the concerns I have Expressed...relating to Mr Ramlogan SC's conduct."
The Attorney General's attorney is Courtenay Coye LLP, considered to be one of the priciest law firms in the country - so Mr Ramlogan will be expected to face sizable costs.
And, as we told you yesterday, Ramlogan and his client Jerry Enriquez threw in the towel yesterday - formally abandoning their application and its various appeals. Enriquez spoke to us today via zoom about lessons learned:
Jerry Enriquez, Citizen Activist "We decided, at this time, it is too late, to move forward in the direction that we wanted to go. And we decided to withdraw the application for an expedited appeal hearing. But technically not the appeal itself, just the expedited hearing."
"But yet we have not given up our determined fight to ensure that the Prime Minister carries out his promise this time to have fair apportionment of electoral divisions. So we're going to keep on the up until that is completed."
Jules Vasquez "Have you learned anything in this entire undertaking and this mad rush? About the nature of how power is wielded and articulated in our society?"
Jerry Enriquez, Citizen Activist "The power is very, very concentrated. I was I've learned recently that or that is confirmed even recently when we wrote to the governor general, we wrote to the attorney general, the prime minister, the speaker of the House, all to find out that they are represented by a small few elite attorneys, who are aligned with the political party."
"How can they objectively defend the people when they want to carry out their political party mandate? And in a sense, leave the people powerless. So here where I'm struck with a question that keeps circling in my mind, who do people turn to when their constitutional rights are violated repeatedly by both major political parties who are insistent on continuing that violation?"
Last night, PM John Briceno was the guest on Uncut where for two hours he discussed campaigning and the Plan Belize 2.0 manifesto. During the show, he admitted that he's already started to recalibrate his promised new Cabinet in his mind. And he announced that he's planning to keep the Foreign Minister before he could even win his seat. Here's how he put it.
Jules Vasquez "Is this something that is already happening that members of your cabinet are justling to make sure they'll get a chosen portfolio in the next term?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "No, nobody has been coming to me, oh I want this or whatever, and I use the George Price line. We need to win first. Now, in my mind, I'm already starting to do some kind of calibration, so I think what changes, if any, that we have to do. We know for sure that Minister Fonseca said he will stay at the foreign affairs, so we will have to find a new minister for education. And no I've not determined who that person is going to be as yet."
And the PM also admitted that Belize has pulled out of the Hague group and from the South Africa case against Israel at the ICJ. He explained that point bank - the reason he did it was because of fear of repercussions from US President Trump.
Jules Vasquez "Just say, we're left to Hague group. Can we make it official?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, with this, I don't think it's a secret. I think what's important to understand that our principles have not changed. Our stance with Palestine has not changed. Ours, we still maintain the suspension of diplomatic relationship with Israel, but we have a reality called Donald Trump. And as much as we are independent nation, we need to be able to navigate very carefully because we don't want to pick a fight with this gentleman."
"We don't know what to expect from him. So we have a responsibility to this country first and foremost, despite the fact based on our principles, which has not changed."
Jules Vasquez "The problem is the self-determination issue."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "But that does not change. We still believe that the Palestinians have every right to self-determination."
Jules Vasquez "But who will stand with us when our self-determination comes into question? If we abandon them, who will stand with us?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We still stand by saying that we support their right to self-determination."
Jules Vasquez "Will we pull out of the South Africa case?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I think has finish already."
Jules Vasquez No, sir. We joined it."
"Okay, so we will pull out."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "On the second one, I'm trying to remember the actual name. Yes."
And finally tonight - there was a wide open debate last night in San Pedro featuring the PUP incumbent, his two UDP challengers and a third party candidate.
The event was town hall style - and their challengers tackled the area rep on mangrove deforestation - except for Shyne Barrow''s candidate who's struggled through the introduction:
EARLY on Shyne Barrow's candidate Mahmoud Lagha abruptly left the stage - leaving the host clueless:..
Lagha later posted "I want to sincerely apologize for my quick exit at tonight's debate . As many of you know, I am observing Ramadan and fasting from sunrise to sunset."
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Last week, the physical circumstances accompanying the discovery of missing man Raheem Usher's body shocked the north - and today something far more grisly appeared.
"The second young man I was told that he was not dug up but they had bored some hole on the tomb and had tried to light it on fire. That's what I was told about the other one."
And there is also a murder to report in the north - though this one has nothing to do with the cartel or local counterparts.
He was shot in the foot by police at the Michael Finnegan market two days ago - and today Edward Scrubbie Saldano had to be taken to court tin a wheelchair to be charged for discharging a firearm in public and 2 counts of gun and ammunition possession charges.
"Our submission was that client Mr. William Espinal was not in the same position since he was solely charged with conspiracy to commit robbery which we submitted did not fall under section 16 of the crime control and justice acts which prohibits a magistrate from granting from an accused to an accused. The learned magistrate agreed that it did not fall under section 16, however she submitted that she would exercise her discretion and not grant him bail still and so obviously now we're in the process of applying for bail for the defendants in the matter."
Yesterday you went along with us on the campaign trail with Kaya Cattouse. She's going up against the current two term area rep, Tracy Panton.
Tracy Panton, TP UDP Area Rep., Albert
"Well I am disappointed too I am an ultra competitive individual and I wanted to put boots on the ground and continue to serve the people of Pickstock by winning the next election but it did not play out like that but to be honest I can understand the situation from my opponent because if you don't have the resources then you can't really compete and you will just embarrass yourself right."
And while Mahler is now - basically - playing help defense - who's looking out for the voters? With the multiplicity of candidates carrying the color red, voter education is critical. And that falls to the Elections and Boundaries Department who have to provide that voter awareness within a very small window of time.
"Well, we have put out some ads. And if you notice, we tailor the answers there because many people are saying that in Belize we vote by colors, which, it's true. But again, every single ballot paper, and not only this time around, the format of the ballot paper is, in the representation of the people act and so we must abide by that. So every candidate has a number on the ballots, right. And the numbers are assigned alphabetically based on the surname of the candidates. And so that is how the names appear in a ballot paper. And that is required by law. So we can't decide who goes first, who goes second. Right. That's set in law. And so, I want to encourage voters, you could look for a number, you can look for the name. And you could also look for the color. When we have village council elections, village council elections is by a name and number. So over 50% of the population who vote in a village council election are used to name and numbers. They're just not used to doing it when it comes to a general election. But in order not to create confusion, I just want the last persons to pay attention to the ballot paper. You could look for a number for your candidates. You could look for their name. You could also look for the color and put one x in one box beside the name of the candidate that you want to vote for."
He fought valiantly for his client Jerry Enriquez's attempt to stop the election from proceeding with an uneven voters list, and now And an Ramlogan will have to pay a high cost for his attempt to cut government off at the pass.
"We decided, at this time, it is too late, to move forward in the direction that we wanted to go. And we decided to withdraw the application for an expedited appeal hearing. But technically not the appeal itself, just the expedited hearing."
"No, nobody has been coming to me, oh I want this or whatever, and I use the George Price line. We need to win first. Now, in my mind, I'm already starting to do some kind of calibration, so I think what changes, if any, that we have to do. We know for sure that Minister Fonseca said he will stay at the foreign affairs, so we will have to find a new minister for education. And no I've not determined who that person is going to be as yet."