Team Miller Scores Decisive PUP Convention Victory  

The ballots may have carried the candidates’ names, but Sunday’s PUP convention tested much more than their popularity. It became a closely watched battle over leadership, succession and political influence in Belize City. After weeks of campaigning and competing endorsements, delegates had to choose between two young council leaders seeking to become the party’s next mayoral candidate. Senior PUP figures also took a keen interest as questions grew over which political alliance would carry the day. In the end, delegates delivered a decisive verdict and selected the team that will lead the PUP into the March 2027 municipal elections. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Sunday’s PUP convention exposed a clear political divide outside the ITVET Compound, as supporters rallied behind two young leaders with competing ambitions. Deputy Mayor Eluide Miller and Councilor Allan Pollard had spent weeks courting delegates and building support in their bids to become the party’s next mayoral candidate for Belize City. As voting began, both men projected confidence, but only one would emerge with the mandate to lead the PUP into the next municipal elections.

 

Eluide Miller, PUP Mayoral Candidate, Belize City

“I am all about the people. I think the showing out here shows that people are highly supportive of me.”

 

Allan Pollard, Councilor, Belize City

“I have over seven hundred delegates that I think I will be getting support from today, so it’s very important.”

 

The split reached deep into the PUP, with Miller reportedly backed by seven Belize City area representatives and Pollard by three. Only two openly showed their support. Cordel Hyde spent hours in the blazing heat courting Lake Independence’s one hundred and ninety-two delegates for Pollard, while the Pickstock representative rallied its one hundred and twenty-seven delegates behind Miller. Neither agreed to an interview. Caribbean Shores Area Representative Kareem Musa, who seemingly supported Pollard, did speak with News Five.

 

Kareem Musa, Area Representative, Caribbean Shores

“This is one time I can tell you that it does not matter if it is Allan Pollard or Eluide Miller that makes it out victorious today, Caribbean Shores will stand shoulder to shoulder with them. The work begins tomorrow and comes March 2027 we will deliver a big victory for the PUP.”

 

Eluide Miller and Allan Pollard both climbed the political ladder at City Hall, but they took very different paths. Miller started as an intern, worked as the mayor’s aide and won his first council seat in 2024 before becoming deputy mayor. Pollard brought a longer political résumé to the race. He is a three-term councilor, a two-time deputy mayor and has topped the polls twice. Pollard wanted to run for mayor in 2024, but the party asked him to wait, clearing the way for Mayor Bernard Wagner to seek a third term unchallenged.

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“I have my choice, the rest of the people will have their choice as well.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Were you the one that pushed for this convention in the face them telling Allan to wait his turn?”

 

Bernard Wagner

“That “wait your turn” narrative. I will speak of that at another time in my book that I will write when I retire. There is no “waiting of turn”, but I will leave that for my book.”

 

Mayor Wagner endorsed Miller as his choice for mayoral candidate from the onset. Miller is his son-in-law, but Wagner argues that entitlement did not play a factor in his decision. When the dust settled and the final ballot was counted, Miller emerged victorious with four hundred and twenty-seven votes.

 

Eluide Miller

“Do who really know me, know that there is not an ounce of entitlement in me. I have a very strong work ethic, and I based my campaign around that.”

 

Pollard made an early exit from the compound, defeated and emotional. In a social media post made earlier today, Pollard wrote, quote, I believe I have contributed greatly to the success of this Party over the years. But I also knew that some of the decisions I made recently would come with repercussions. The good thing is that I can sit here today and live with myself, knowing that when the difficult decisions came, I did what I believed was best for the people of this country, end quote.

 

Allan Pollard

“Its overwhelming, I just feel for my team. The team put in a lot of work, a lot of effort. We are satisfied with all we did. I don’t think there is anything more we could have done in that three weeks  it’s just…”

 

With the convention now behind them, party leaders are calling for unity as the PUP turns its focus from an internal battle to the larger fight for Belize City Hall in 2027. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

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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