Shyne Barrow Condemns Rally That Halted UDP Unity Meeting

The scheduled National Party Council (NPC) meeting of the United Democratic Party (UDP) failed to proceed yesterday after the internal party conflict led to the meeting’s disruption.

The meeting was to take place at the UDP secretariat on Youth for the Future Drive in Belize City. Just a short walk away, a rally organised by UDP’s Albert Area Representative, Tracy Panton, was drawing crowds in resistance of the meeting, which Panton labelled “unconstitutional” and “illegal.”

In an interview before the scheduled meeting, Panton told News 5 that the NPC “is not a meeting that seeks to unite the base of this party. When 50% of the caretakers and executive committees are excluded, then it cannot be a constitutional or a legal NPC.”

UDP’s Moses “Shyne” Barrow condemned the disruption of the meeting on social media, calling the actions of Panton’s supporters “repugnant,” and a “shame and disgrace.”

Barrow further stated, “This is the same reason that Tracy Panton and her cabal were expelled from the United Democratic Party, for acting outside of the framework that guides our institution, which is that of the constitution.”

According to Barrow, the NPC meeting would have been an opportunity for the UDP to finally unify and amend the party’s constitution.

“Today we would have passed motions to lift the expulsion of Tracy Panton and others… to allow everyone, even those former members that ran with Tracy Panton, to contest in constituency conventions. Today, we would have made recommendations to the constitution in order to reconcile inconsistencies, clarify ambiguities, fill gaps and strengthen the weaknesses that we have in our constitutions that have led to the type of behaviour where everyone tries to have their own interpretation of the constitution, and it leads to chaos.”

He added, “The judge ruled that Tracy Panton was never the leader of the UDP and never had any authority to do any of the things that she did.”