Sunday at the ITVET will witness the UDP's second national convention
in 5 months. The party will select a new leader - after the abortive
February 9th convention. That event was bursting with political
combustion - and we saw the UDP machinery pumping like a great
locomotive; but Sunday's convention will be more like a little red
"tuk-tuk". That's largely due to COVID safety considerations, but we'd
have to imagine that it's also - to some extent - a sheepishness
inspired by just being "shame" that the last leader they picked lasted
for 60 hours - and now they get a chance to pick him again!
Such is the state of affairs in the UDP heading into Sunday event - and
Jules Vasquez compares and contrasts, last time, and this time:
The last UDP convention was like a political orgy - thousands of
supporters, hundreds of thousands of dollars blown, larger than life
signage, amidst a riot of red and a crush of crowds inside the city centre.
But, this time, you can scratch all that because all that noise will
subside on Sunday at the ITVET.
Hon. Mike Peyrefitte - Chairman, UDP
"It will be a far more subdued convention due to the fact that we are still
in the middle of a pandemic. And we have to make sure that people can
exercise their franchise on that day, but most importantly that people are
safe. We know there will be no campaigning inside the ground, there will be
any posters or banners inside the ground. You go in, you vote, and you
leave, all the campaigning and all that stuff will have be done before and
or outside. I wish it could have been like a McDonald's drive through thing
where you drive through, you vote and you go. It will be as close to that
as possible. We understand fully well that the Belizean public would not
appreciate any type of serious social gathering like that with the numbers
that those things can produce while we are extremely worried about COVID
19."
And, police, who had deployed 125 officers last time, are preparing for a
smaller crowd:
Jules Vasquez
"The last time I got there early, and I saw 125 police officers I think I
counted at the Civic Centre, what will be the expected deployment of law
enforcement for Sunday's event?"
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"It is going to be different this time in the sense that, it's not going to
be an event where all the delegates and other supporters are going to come
and congregate in one area. How it's going to be done is that they are
going to vote by districts. So Punta Gorda is going to vote first, then
they leave, then Dangriga comes in, vote and then leaves, so you'll find
that at any given time, they're is not going to be a mass crowd at the
convention area, our deployment is going to be much smaller. We must also
ensure that we have patrol around the perimeters of the convention
grounds."
And so while everything will change, one thing will not: the media will
again be kept outside the convention:
Hon. Mike Peyrefitte
"I can tell you the media will not be excited about because the media will
not be excited about it because you won't be able to go into the compound.
The only people who will be able to go into the compound will be the people
who are voting and the party officials."
The only consolation is that the press and public shouldn't have to wait
too long…
Hon. Mike Peyrefitte
"And I expect it to run very smoothly and by 3-4 o'clock you will know who
will be the new leader elect of the UDP."
And while it will supposedly be all business, where's the politics in
that?:
Jules Vasquez
"What is the purpose of having a political party and there isn't no
dancing, it denies the nature of a mass party to have such an aster and
gloom event, a joyless event like that."
Hon. Mike Peyrefitte
"No, it won't be joyless, the delegates who will be there will be attending
to vote for their new leader, what can be joyless about that? I mean we can
have a joyful event and then be sick and die or have a subdued event and
live, the latter is the much better option."
Of course our 7News team will be on the ground on Sunday and let you
know the results first.
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Hon. Mike Peyrefitte - Chairman, UDP
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police