But is the UDP really in it to win it?

One of the oldest adages in politics is that political parties exist to win elections - but for the UDP - it seems like they exist to quarrel and plot against each other.

On Tuesday, we asked the party leader - who has overseen the expulsion of two of his party's five elected representatives - if he is moving any closer to electability:

Juels Vasquez
"They exist for one reason, to win elections. It does not seem like your party under your leadership is working constructively towards that goal of consolidating support in order to get the 16. You all don't seem to be moving inexorably towards that goal. Is the UDP reorienting itself for what you might say in sports, you would call it, Is this a rebuilding year?"

Shyne Barrow, Leader UDP
"It has to be a rebuilding process for the last couple of years. There have been signs of traction, not to your liking, not to your threshold, not as robust as you would like, but you cannot show me in the history of the two mass parties, where the performance at the municipal level and the village council level have been any better than where we are. Now, it doesn't mean that we don't work earnestly to improve and to, to to break away from patterns. But it is not the end of the world. We are in opposition. We are rebuilding. The majority of us have been striving towards that end goal of making the party electable. Constituency by constituency. And that is why we've taken difficult decisions, to rid ourselves of people who don't want the party to win. There are people amongst the alliance who are intent that the party should not have any electoral success. Once Shyne Barrow is the leader, there are people that are intent that Shane Barrow should not be the next Prime Minister of Belize, and they would do anything to stop that. And that is what they are doing right now."

Jules Vasquez
"And it seems they are succeeding."

Shyne Barrow
"Well, you have even heard them admit that even if the leader changes, we still won't form a government. I've, I've heard them say that, we will see at the polls whether they've succeeded or not."