Delegate Drama Builds Ahead of PUP Convention

In Belize City, the PUP convention battle is not only about who wants to run, but who gets to vote. Roughly seven hundred delegates will help decide the party’s municipal slate, and Secretary General Collet Montejo says he pities those who must make some tough political choices. But while many party stalwarts see delegate selection as recognition of their loyalty and value, others are crying foul after being left off their constituency lists. Some former delegates have taken their complaints to social media, turning the process into another flashpoint ahead of convention day. Montejo says being a delegate is not automatic, and tonight, he explains how the party decides who gets a seat at the table.

 

Collet Montejo, Secretary General, PUP

“There are individuals who believe it’s a right of passage and that’s never the case. It’s the executive committees that convene, meet and decide on the delegate list and there are times when they’ll decide to give other people an opportunity to experience what it’s like, and everybody wants to be a delegate, but there’s only seven hundred-plus delegates in all the constituencies here in Belize City, so not everybody can be a delegate and we just ask them to be aware of that and be sensitive to the fact that it’s impossible to get everybody to be on the delegate list.”

 

Shane Williams

“How are the number of delegates selected? We asked you before but I think there has been an amendment for Pickstock and Fort George.”

 

Collet Montejo

“Yeah for Pickstock and Fort George, what we did was took the last three elections, the 2020 general, the 2021 municipal and the 2024 municipal because they went uncontested in 2025. We took an average. We looked at the voter turnout and we looked at the margin of victory and that’s how we were able to determine the number of delegates for Fort George and Pickstock.”

 

The United Democratic Party will also hold its Belize City Convention on August 30th.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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