The deadline for individuals to apply to run for the United Democratic Party in the next general elections has passed and there was no application submitted for Rt. Hon. Dean O. Barrow, Hon. Michael Finnegan, Hon. Gaspar Vega or Hon. Anthony “Boots” Martinez, signaling the end of a glorious era for the party. There is no time for nostalgia; however, as these stalwarts would rather have supporters focus on the exciting opportunity before us. Political parties rarely ever get an opportunity to remodel, rebrand, revive without losing power. The senior leaders are taking a step back for new blood to take the baton and over fifty (50) would-be first time area representatives have accepted the challenge by signing up to infuse new energy into the United Democratic Party.
In total, seventy (70) individuals have submitted their names to run for 31 seats and fifteen (15) seats are not being contested. In the North those are Corozal North with Hugo Patt, Corozal Bay with Pablo Marin, Orange Walk East with Elodio Aragon Jr. and Orange Walk South with Guadalupe Lovelia Dyck. In the Central: Belize Rural North with Edmond Castro, Belize Rural Central with Beverly Williams, Caribbean Shores with Darrell Bradley, Pickstock with Wilfred Elrington, Alberts with Tracy Panton, Queen Square with Denise Barrow and Collet with Patrick Faber. In the West: Cayo Central with Rene Montero, Cayo North with Omar Figueroa, Cayo West with Erwin Contreras and Belmopan with John Saldivar.
There will be conventions in sixteen (16) constituencies. In the North, there are three candidates for Corozal Southeast, two candidates for Orange Walk North and three for Orange Walk Central. In the Central region there are two candidates for Belize Rural South, three for Freetown, four for Lake Independence, four for Port Loyola, two for Mesopotamia and four for Fort George. In the West there are four candidates for Cayo South and three for Cayo Northeast. All four constituencies are being contested in the South with six candidates for Stann Creek West, three for Dangriga, five for Toledo East and five for Toledo West.
The applicants will be vetted then a convention date will be assigned to the different constituencies for Sundays in the months of November 2018 to February 2019.
