Tonight, the UDP is seeing what may be previews of a dramatic and costly internal war. First, it was the announcement that David Alemndarez will run for Shyne Barrow's UDP in Belize Rural Central- challenging the UDP's Beverly Williams and the PUP's Dolores Balderamos.
And this evening we saw this sensational flyer saying that Tracy Panton's Deputy Chairman, Lee Mark Chang will run for her faction in Mesopotamia - against Leader Shyne Barrow. Chang, who partly grew up in Mesopotamia at the site of his family's original Chon Saan Restaurant, would be an interesting choice to challenge his one time party leader. Plus, as the owner of one of the country's most successful restaurants, Chang is known to bring his own significant finances to political contests.
But, this evening he would not confirm the reports and professed no knowledge of the flyer. He would only say he could not confirm or deny what we had heard.
But, the reports from within Tracy Panton's camp are very strong that it is a very live proposal - and that her chief strategist John Saldivar is pushing hard for it to go through.
If it does, it could be a game changer for Shyne Barrow - who would be facing two opponents: one from within his own party, and one from without: the PUP's Lawrence Ellis.
Chang is a two time loser in general elections; he lost to Francis Fonseca in Freetown in 2015, and to Kareem Musa in Caribbean Shores in 2020. He was also the first Chinese - Belizean president of the Senate.
We'll keep following the story.
| 