And it was a major victory for Dr Martinez, a political newcomer, whose roots are in the banana belt. And while, according to him, he took a calculated risk to move from his CEO position to electoral politics, he never doubted that he would come out on top. But his confidence didn't stop his party from mobilizing as many ministers, mayors, CEOs and councillors as they could get down to Toledo East.
That was distinctly different from the UDP, which only had three elected officials working in the constituency. And for the PNP, well, a couple of green shirts could be spotted here and there.
But for the PUP, it's their fourth major electoral win in three and a half years. Our news team was on the ground from 6 yesterday morning until the final results came out at 11. Yesterday we showed you what the day was like, and now, we have the second part: election night. Courtney Menzies has this story.
4,670 ballots were cast yesterday in Toledo East - and 70% of those voters marked their x's next to Dr Osmond Martinez - securing a landslide victory for the Boy from Bella Vista.
It was a blue blowout like no other, with a margin of over 2,000 votes separating him from his UDP opponent, Dennis "Desho" Williams.
And it seems the UDP knew their demise was imminent - two and a half hours after the polls closed, the Leader of the Opposition left the counting station and wasn't seen for the rest of the night. Meanwhile, Williams was nowhere to be found - which was not unlike his scarce presence throughout the day.
And after just under four hours of counting, the Prime Minister arrived at the counting station, signaling their massive win. His presence ignited the crowd of supporters, who erupted into cheers, blaring horns, and even happy birthday chants - celebrating the PM's big 64 with yet another win at the polls under his belt during his tenure as leader.
And last night he told us that those results are proof that the PUP is more popular than ever.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"It will not prompt me to call an early election but I like to make the point, I know there are some journalists that want to make the point as if the PUP is not popular. The PUP is popular, if the PUP was not popular, they would have voted against us. In most instances, people would vote against, and not for. In this instance, the people have voted for us."
Reporter:
"Does it concern you about Belize's democratic state seeing as though this is the third election in a row where the opposition didn't even make a dent at the polls?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Absolutely not, this is democracy at its best, the people come out and they decide who they want to support. When I was leader and during the difficult times that I've had, it was never as bad as this but I was still out there, I was still talking to people, meeting them, talking to them and I think we manage to cross that point where people now feel confident in our leadership, feel confident in the work that the PUP is doing and we want continue that, we want to reach out to everybody."
So for the PM it was a double celebration - one in which he had his cake and ate it too.
And as he beamed like a proud father, he joined Dr Martinez inside as the ballots continued to be counted. Meanwhile, outside the TCC gates, the energy of the crowd remained high for the next hour before the finally results came out.
Even as the rain started pouring, the supporters remained outside. For the media though, with our cameras and cellphones, we tried to seek shelter inside the compound, and that's when the gates were shut in our news team's faces. But not before three reporters from two media houses made it inside the compound.
This spurred a slight standoff between our 7Newsteam and the security guard at the gate.
After some back and forth, some calls were made to the Commissioner of Police, who gave the directive to ASP Aaron Gamboa to let the media inside.
Aside from that incident, though, the ComPol said the elections were carried out peacefully.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"At this time I can say that the election went off without a hitch, thanks to the good work of the police as the voters as well as those candidates who partook in the election who helped to make the event go through peacefully."
"There were no challenges, I must say that everybody was quite cooperative with the police, including the candidates who partook in the election and so we are grateful for that."
And just before 11 in the night, the area rep elect, Dr Osmond Martinez, emerged from the crowd, before the final result was officially given, to give his victory speech. While most would be overcome with excitement, Martinez was completely calm and composed, and he said it was a win foretold by the data.
Dr Osmond Martinez, Area Rep. Elect, Toledo East
"We had our targets and we worked towards it, we did a lot of data analysis, we were not worried about the margin, our main objective was to win."
"It is a moment of emotion but at the same time it's a privilege but more important it's a blessing from God."
And that win was sealed the second the boxes from Bella Vista arrived at the counting station. It was the busiest polling station in the constituency, and in the morning, Martinez led the charge in a parade.
But he said it's not just his hometown that ensured his win
Reporter:
"Sir, you are The Boy From Bella Vista, so how much does it mean to you that they had highest voter turn out?"
Dr Osmond Martinez, Area Rep. Elect, Toledo East
"Well, it means a lot to me and at the same time it shows that Bella Vista is with me but it's not only Bella Vista, it's Toledo East."
"We won everywhere, including Punta Gorda, I was well impressed. And for the first time in history, we won Monkey River, and the Maya communities, we did excellent there when you look at their numbers, it's almost 85% of the voters from there so while Bella Vista had the highest voter turnout it does not mean it was only Bella Vista, it was Toledo East who supported me today."
And while he will be sworn in as the area rep, does he have a place in the PM's cabinet?
Reporter:
"Sir, you replace Minister Espat, he was a Minister of State, sorry, in the Ministry of Finance, have you been promised some sort of position like that?"
Dr Osmond Martinez, Area Rep. Elect, Toledo East
"The only promise I have is to represent the people."
And that representation begins with the completion of his voter transfer since he is registered in Caribbean Shores and could not vote for himself in this election. But he assured us that in the coming months, he will be a proper Toledo East constituent.
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