In 1865, it was the 16th. US President Abraham Lincoln who said “with malice toward none, with charity for all, ...” And now the independent Belize’s fourth Prime Minister, Said Musa– with proper attribution to the man they called honest Abe - borrowed a piece of that famous phrase as the title of his political memoirs. It’s the first time a former Belizean Prime Minister has written any kind of book and the very first time, one has written an account of what happened during his term of office.

The premise alone is exciting, Musa’s second term was one of the most controversy filled eras in modern Belizean history and now that he’s retiring – or at least he says he is – what better time to have an sober, revealing reflection on those difficult times? After all, who wouldn’t want to know what he was thinking when he signed the accommodation agreement?

So it was with a sense of anticipation that our in-house political junkie Jules Vasquez attended this morning’s presentation at the Image Factory. But first, a disclaimer – the story you’ll see is not just news coverage, it is a review, a review of a book where the man covering the story plays a small part in the book – and so – to add context - puts himself into the story you’re about to see. You’ll excuse the intrusion, because we don’t usually do stories about “I” and “me” – that’s not news, that’s opinion – and so is what follows. A divergence from the usual style but probably more interesting for it. Here goes.

Jules Vasquez Reporting,
With 2008 election iconography on display, his image outlined in lights, rock star style and the legal limit of PUP old guardists crowding every corner of the room – while his family sat behind him – it was a very full house at the Image Factory. It seemed that on the 59th. Anniversary of the PUP there was no better place for a true blue PUP to be - except for the party leader – who was out in the sun hot with Charlie Good – but more on that later.

Today it was about the past leader Said Musa, shadowed by his own towering image. You could almost hear the audience cooing when he spoke once more of the old tamales days.

Said Musa, “Malice Towards None”
“A young man who sold tamales when he was going to St. Michael’s College. That same young man emerged as the leader of the greatest political party in the history of Belize.”

But this is not an autobiography, neither is it a memoir.

Said Musa,
“It is rather in the nature of a narrative of some significant events in a political life, in my political life, and the surrounding circumstances as the subtitle says, ‘Notes on a political life.’ It is also to present my side of the story.”

Yasser Musa, Son of Said Musa
“Some might not agree with what he says because it does not fit their political vantage point or their particular agenda. This is the first time that a former Prime Minister of Belize has written his own political story and in this age of the me and the media, it is crucial that multiple perspectives.”

And the Musa perspective finds a well-meaning Prime Minister – the blurb gushes that he’s a humanist – beset by multiple plagues: self-serving ministers, a ruthless G-7, a malicious media consumed with its own personal agendas. And that’s the recurring theme in this book – which indeed is a study in victimology; it is never Mr. Musa’s fault, the bad decisions, the toxic secret agreements, the endless doublespeak...in all cases, he is the good, well-meaning leader beset by disloyal ministers and dogged mercilessly by the media.

Of me he writes that I was cunning and disingenuous – it’s his opinion and I would never argue with it but then Mr. Musa states that it was all about revenge – I was settling a score. Here’s the quote “The Belize Times Cartoons were not flattering to Mr. Net Vasquez. His revenge would come through his son who portrayed the TV news with total irreverence with a clear agenda to bring down the PUP government.” So then, it was all about cartoons...?

If he weren’t serious it would be funny – in fact I think it is – but I had to ask, is he really serious?

Jules Vasquez,
“Sir at the risk of being solipsistic and it is all about you and not about me but it is an important feature of how one views the work if one was to say I have to ask, do you really believe or are you just trying to make people believe that I operated on a personal agenda against you because I was seeking revenge for cartoons about my father in the Belize Times? I know you wrote it but do you really believe it?”

Said Musa,
“Obviously I must have believed it why I wrote it.”

Jules Vasquez,
“But you realize that sounds crazy?”

Said Musa,
“I am making the point in the book that you were clearly a supporter of the UDP who saw the now Prime Minister walking on water, he could do no wrong. This is how you conducted your television programs.”

Jules Vasquez,
“That’s fine but I am saying, you really believe that I was going for you to take revenge for my father?”

Said Musa,
“I don’t believe that was the sole motivation.”

And while he thinks my motives were at all times political or revenge filled – to hear him tell it, his never were.

Jules Vasquez,
“Are you trying to absolve yourself in this book because you feel history so far in the short to medium term has wronged you?”

Said Musa,
“I don’t think history has wronged me. The history hasn’t been properly written yet. If by history you mean what the media has been saying, that is not history. History of 1998 to 2008, the definitive history is yet to be written, believe me. So I don’t think I have been wronged by history. But I don’t want to go into that right now but it is ‘malice towards none.’

Jules Vasquez,
“But there is more than a hint of malice in here for people like juvenile ministers who are texting during Cabinet meetings.”

Said Musa,
“That’s not malice, that’s a fact.”

Jules Vasquez,
“It seems like a raucous description because you don’t know who they were texting to as a matter of fact.”

Said Musa,
“Well I happen to know actually, yes I do.”

Jules Vasquez,
“You know with certainty?”

Said Musa,
“With certainty…why are you are smiling?”

Jules Vasquez,
“Well I don’t know.”

Said Musa,
“Oh you don’t know?”

Jules Vasquez,
“You said they were texting me but I don’t know.”

Said Musa,
“I didn’t say that.”

But he did its right there on page 107 – he said they were texting me. And those ministers weren’t only texting – they undermined the Musa administration – in the odious G-7.

Jose Sanchez, News 5
“The greatest personal and national strife came from the G7…”

Said Musa,
“As I mention in my writing, I can always take the blows coming from political opponents but when the undermining comes from within that can be very fatal for any politician and so in that sense the undermining that I felt was caused by the action of the G7 obviously in a sense demoralized a lot of our supporters and what happened afterwards was almost like a chronicle of a defeat foretold.”

A defeat which was their fault, not his.

Jules Vasquez,
“You don’t seem to have come to terms that you led the PUP to its largest defeat in history and that can’t be singularly blamed on the media. As you as a politician know, the pact with the voter is made house to house and the PUP failed soundly in doing that in your last term because it seemed from the outside that the electorate had lost confidence in your leadership. You don’t seem to have come to terms with that.”

Said Musa,
“I have very much come to terms with it. That is why I stepped as the leader of the party shortly after the election.”

Jules Vasquez,
“But in this book I don’t see, ‘here is what I did wrong.’ I haven’t read the whole book, I only scanned it, but I didn’t see you saying, ‘you know I made a mistake that led the PUP to its greatest defeat in history.’ You are saying that this was done for the right reason, that was done for the right reason but there is no concession.”

Said Musa,
“I am not apologetic at all because I felt that my motivation was right, my goals were very clear, what I wanted to achieve and I am very unapologetic about my performance as Prime Minister during my time. But that is not to say that I did wrong to the Belizean people. That is not to say I am to blame for the election defeat. It is to say that the nature of politics is a very volatile business.”

Jules Vasquez,
“With malice towards none, however is this some sort of invasion of the equation because the malice I always felt was from the people or a cross section of the population towards you but you are forgiving them when they haven’t forgiven you.”

Said Musa,
“No I did not in all years in politics sense that there was malice on the part of the Belizean people toward me. None at all, no malice towards me. I sense there was malicious attacks made by certain sections of the media against me but I don’t sense that coming from the people at all.”

And maybe that’s why judging from the setting – Musa seems to be putting himself back in shape to go back to those voters. His handlers trotted out the old “VOTE FOR MUSA” memorabilia but we aren’t sure if it is nostalgia, a career re-launch or mass delusion. He assures us it is not a comeback.

Jules Vasquez,
“One has the sense with the iconography, with the fist in the air, the hats, the vote for Musa think on the rostrum in front of you on the microphone, one has the sense that you are making a comeback.”

Said Musa,
“I don’t know why brother Jules here seems to have an obsession about my future role whether it is going to be in politics or not because he has been asking me this question, in fact he’s been pointing out that I told him as far back as election day that I was retiring from politics. My position hasn’t changed. I am in the autumn of my years but I am also an elected representative of the people in the Fort George division and that is what I am focused on right now.”

Today he was focused on selling books – and a long line of autograph seekers were only too happy to get an autographed copy

Musa’s book, 207 pages long, is available for $25 at the Image Factory Book Store and other book vendors.