But regardless of the success of his documentary, Tracy Panton and the Alliance for Democracy continue to operate under the UDP banner. Two weeks ago, Panton announced that her faction was going on a national tour as they gear up for general elections. And as recently as Friday, they issued a press release with the UDP letterhead.
But even that couldn't dampen Barrow's mood today, especially since the court granted him the temporary injunction and occupation of the party HQ.
He even told us that Joe Bradley and Alfonso Noble may get to keep their jobs at Wave Radio and Guardian Newspaper. But what about other UDP functionaries, like Yellowman and Juliet Thimbriel? Well, here's what he said.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"The status quo ante has been established by Justice Hondora which is that everything returns to the way it was until he makes a decision on the case and that's everything overall, the Guardian, Wave, everything, even our UDP letterhead which I see is still being unauthorizedly used by the Alliance."
Reporter:
"But there have been significant personnel changes in terms of the way the organs are now being run."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"It has been, to be clear, we're looking at the Joe and Fonso situation because I'm here to bring the party together, I'm here to heal, and here to reconcile as long as people accept the status quo, accept who the leader is, who the duly elected leadership executive is so we're looking at how we can work with Joe and Fonso so you heard that here first. So there has not been a termination letter sent, it was definitely something that was contemplated based on the outburst that Fonso had and different things that they did but we're looking to see how we can incorporate them into the new structures of the Guardian."
Courtney Menzies:
"What about the other personnel who used to be around here like Yellowman?"
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"We haven't looked at that, remember that happened before, so we haven't looked at that but as far as the Guardian and Wave, we're looking at how we can reintegrate Joe and Fonso but still keep the same diverse line up, I think it has gotten a positive reception getting the party chairman, the deputy party chairman, Delroy, different people coming on different days so we plan to continue that and Delroy has done a very enhanced upgrade of the Guardian so we want to continue that as well."
Reporter:
"What is your relationship with Juliet Thimbriel? If you look at the documentary, she spoke glowingly of you there. As of now, it seems you guys are at loggerheads."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"I'm not at loggerheads with Juliet. I will always appreciate Juliet Thimbriel, she was a friend and a sister at one point and I am not arguing with her, whatever issues might be there, you'd have to ask her how she feels but I only have love and good things in my heart when it comes to her. I try to remember the positives and for whatever reason we are where we are but I hold no grudges."
And he believes the court will ultimately rule in his favor, especially when taking the tone of the first judgment into consideration. Additionally, Barrow said that Panton is wasting her time trying to unseat him when the energy should be used to go after the government.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"I can't go into the judges mind but the decision was scathing when he gave his details about why he denied the adjournment request and how he felt that, in his words, it was a deliberate attempt to get an adjournment which is why they came without lawyers. Then when he talks about denying Sheena's amicus petition, he talks about the fact that she wasn't amicus, she had a vested interest to try to mislead the court, he wasn't very appreciate of that and he goes into why he feels that as an officer of the court she had a greater responsibility to be transparent."
"We need to be clear, the position of the party is that these people are no longer members of the party and they've formed an Alliance for Democracy Party. That has always been our position, they take another position, but we have to focus on Wally Nunez being accused of corruption. We have to focus on the immigration corruption that has been uncovered in Lake Independence. We have to focus on the inadequate response to Tropical Storm Sara, we have to focus on the continued high cost of living. I don't see any benefit on focusing on Tracy Panton and her Alliance for Democracy. It does not help the Belizean people. We cannot give John Briceno and the PUP a few pass and I would encourage them to focus on John Briceno. Instead of trying to unseat the Opposition Leader, they should be trying to unseat the prime minister and they can do that focusing on me, people don't want to hear about me, people want to hear about the solutions to make their lives better and what is wrong with the country and how we can fix it."
|