<p><strong><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0002.jpg"><imgclass="alignleft size-medium wp-image-115989" title="PM on PUP Machinery0002" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0002-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225"/></a>One of the biggest stories on Election Day was the political muscle present from both parties – and indeed, it’s hard to remember the last time the P.U.P. put on any kind of impressive show. But both parties were out in numbers, and they weren’t quiet. In fact, there were a number of skirmishes reported throughout the day. According to PM Barrow, the P.U.P. muscle was a result of desperation, but in the end, it was for nothing because the people showed the real muscle through their ballots.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Dean Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.</strong></p>
<p><em>“This was something of a last stand for the P.U.P. They needed to win this and you see they brought out droves of people – hundreds and hundreds of people from across the country and that is as it should have been, because for them it was really do or die. In that kind of a climate their people were feeling both muscular and desperate, and so you would expect that the tension would be higher than normal. When the general election comes, then you’re talking about all the individual constituencies having to deal with their own individual elections, so you can’t have this kind of circumstance and I hope that when that day comes, as is usual and traditional in this country we’re going to have peaceful general elections.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reporter</strong></p>
<p>“Sir, do you consider the little time they had to prepare as a factor?”</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="attachment_115988" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0001.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-115988" title="Dean Barrow" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0001-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Dean Barrow</p></div>
<p><strong>Dean Barrow </strong></p>
<p><em>“Well it is a factor in the sense that it is a fact and therefore it has to be a factor. But look, you can’t make excuses in politics. Mr. Sabal, perhaps as an individual, was not involved I the process in any serious way until the by-election was called. But I am saying that the P.U.P. had the seat. The P.U.P. certainly had the campaign. They were in fact seizing on every issue. They were manufacturing issues. Certainly over the last nine months to a year we’ve seen an acceleration in their campaigning – the thirteenth Senator, the Public Accounts Committee, the Petrocaribe Act, any number of issues – and I’m saying that if they were making any progress at all, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had had ten days to prepare, the people would have been with them and the people would have spoken. The people have spoken but they have spoken in favour of the United Democratic Party.”</em></p>
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<p> </p>
<p><strong>Dean Barrow, Party Leader, U.D.P.</strong></p>
<p><em>“This was something of a last stand for the P.U.P. They needed to win this and you see they brought out droves of people – hundreds and hundreds of people from across the country and that is as it should have been, because for them it was really do or die. In that kind of a climate their people were feeling both muscular and desperate, and so you would expect that the tension would be higher than normal. When the general election comes, then you’re talking about all the individual constituencies having to deal with their own individual elections, so you can’t have this kind of circumstance and I hope that when that day comes, as is usual and traditional in this country we’re going to have peaceful general elections.”</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Reporter</strong></p>
<p>“Sir, do you consider the little time they had to prepare as a factor?”</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="attachment_115988" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width:160px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="highslide" target="_blank" href="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0001.jpg"><imgclass="size-thumbnail wp-image-115988" title="Dean Barrow" src="http://edition.channel5belize.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PM-on-PUP-Machinery0001-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Dean Barrow</p></div>
<p><strong>Dean Barrow </strong></p>
<p><em>“Well it is a factor in the sense that it is a fact and therefore it has to be a factor. But look, you can’t make excuses in politics. Mr. Sabal, perhaps as an individual, was not involved I the process in any serious way until the by-election was called. But I am saying that the P.U.P. had the seat. The P.U.P. certainly had the campaign. They were in fact seizing on every issue. They were manufacturing issues. Certainly over the last nine months to a year we’ve seen an acceleration in their campaigning – the thirteenth Senator, the Public Accounts Committee, the Petrocaribe Act, any number of issues – and I’m saying that if they were making any progress at all, it wouldn’t have mattered if they had had ten days to prepare, the people would have been with them and the people would have spoken. The people have spoken but they have spoken in favour of the United Democratic Party.”</em></p>
View the full article