7 News Belize

Tracy Will Consolidate Leadership By Calling NPC
posted (April 1, 2025)
Turning now to politics, Tracy Panton is getting ready to move on with re-organizing the UDP under one leader. Even though former leader Shyne Barrow had her in court yesterday - and he continues to challenge the legitimacy of the October 20th convention which installed her as leader - Panton's leadership is moving on. It has called a National Party Council meeting for Saturday.

Yesterday she discussed the urgency:.

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
"It's very important for the National Party Council to meet, for the family, the UDP wider family to meet, so we can bring them up to speed as to where things are and we can also have a plan on our way forward."

"I am not a dictator. There is no dictatorship in my leadership and so consultation with members of the NPC is of paramount importance to me."










Faber's Future in Collet?

And as Panton moves forward, it's clear that Patrick Faber will be right by her side. He's a close ally to his leader - and the five term rep - who lost to a rookie on March 12th, suggested strongly yesterday that he's not going anywhere - even if he has a few slightly sour grapes:

Patrick Faber
"I am not the kind that will cry foul. I believe that there are many things that happened and I think that it was very blatant in most regards what happened. So, but a loss is a loss. I understood that very well from the night of the election."

"I still have a place with the people of Collet. I am not quick to abandon them. They have made it very clear to me that they still want me to be there as their representative. And so I am considering that very strongly."

"I'm not quick to make a decision there, but I don't think that I'll be going anywhere in that regard. But I also believe that I have a very huge role to play in terms of helping to put the pieces back together, if you will, of the party."

"And so that is my primary role in these early days after the election."







Faber Concedes Failures

And while Faber remains politically active - he also has to come to terms with the fact that the tables have turned. In 2003, he burst on the scene as a 25 year old who beat an older incumbent in Remijio Montejo. And now he's that older candidate who was beaten by a 30 year old challenger, Devin Daly. Except Faber lost by 163 votes in 2025, whereas he beat Montero by less than 60 votes in 2003.

It is a stunning reversal OF fortunes for a man that was the UDP's most senior parliamentarian and its strongest candidate in the Belize District. Yesterday he said he does take some blame:

Patrick Faber
"I take some responsibility, of course, for the loss. I like I said, I'm not one who will cry foul. I've never been in this situation where I would have to explain a loss before, but I'm not one who will sit down and cry cry foul and claim that, you know, it's not a loss."

"A loss is a loss. I had a fair run on with the people of Collet for 22 years. I've been their representative. I've been their leader as the UDP person in the constituency for much longer, maybe 27 years."

"And so for me, it is an opportunity, again, for me to reassess my position and to see where we're going. But that certainly does not mean an abandonment of my people."








Faber Says Election Irregularities Have to Be Addressed

And like every losing party though - the UDP does have some material complaints about assisted voting. In the last election there were more reports of "assisted voting."

And that's likely because the voter who's being assisted has agreed to accept money - but it's only given on the condition that a political operative can witness or administer their vote. Highly irregular stuff, but anything is possible with whichever side of the PUDP has the bigger bag. Faber says that it has to come to a stop:

Patrick Faber
"There is no doubt in my mind that some of those same irregularities happened in Collet. There was an abundance of people coming to vote along with the PUP operatives who claim all of a sudden these are people who have known all my days in Collet, all my 25 years or so in Collet, all of a sudden they can't read, they can't hold a pen, they don't know how to mark an X."

"These things were very real. I complained to a returning officer on record quite a few times about photographing ballots. That was very real on election day. So again, while personally I am not one to sit down and cry about the results, these things are very real."

"It may be, as I said in my post about Cayo North, not something that we want to use to try to overturn the election results now. But if we don't pay attention to these things, because they're very real, if we don't pay attention to them and make complaints about them, this system of democracy that we practice in this country that we've enjoyed so very long will crumble."







Faber, Future Senator

Faber now takes up a post as the senior senator in the upper chamber of the house. That's the Senate where appointees are selected, not elected. Politically, it's not the big show - but Faber will likely be an anchor for the UDP in the parliament:










Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize