Politics - Greater Belize Media

UDP Closes Door to Faber; What is His Future in Politics?

Saturday’s NPC meeting marked Chairman Michael Peyrefitte’s first time back at the helm since his return, and it didn’t take long for tensions to flare. After Patrick Faber’s surprise appearance, Peyrefitte made his position quite clear: as long as he’s chairman, Faber won’t be running under the U.D.P banner in any future election. Here’s how Peyrefitte put it in his own words.

Michael Peyrefitte, Chairman, U.D.P.

“Patrick Faber he think he big and bad, he think the rule does not apply to him. But the UDP is not an abused woman. The UDP is not to be bullied. The UDP will not have its doors kicked down, by a sick deranged individual. What the UDP will do, what I believe will happen by five oclock is to say that we don’t want Patrick Faber in the UDP anymore.”

Paul Lopez

“Is that then the end of him and his run in the UDP while you are chair?”

Michael Peyrefitte

“I know that while I am chair, when the applications come for conventions for the different divisions and Collet is one of them, Patrick Faber’s application will not be accepted if he chooses to apply him.”

Paul Lopez

“Why did you all not just remove him out of the meeting and continue with it here?”

Michael Peyrefitte

“We spoke to the police. We are decent people. I know that people like you would love to see a fight. People like you would love to see June fourteenth. But that is not going to be repeated today. Nobody will commit a crime and try to remove anybody. You know what we do, remove him form the UDP. Remove him from the UDP is better than dragging him from upstairs. We called the police and they made it clear that unless there is a fight they wont intervene. So the political directorate of this country wants a fight. They say they will send the police if you start a fight, Peyrefitte if you start a fight then the police will come. We are not going to do that in the UDP, not today.”

Faber Fights Back: Says NPC Has No Power to Expel or Reinstate

Patrick Faber isn’t backing down. He’s pushing back hard, saying the NPC has no authority to vote on reinstating him, or anyone else, for that matter. According to Faber, the High Court already ruled that those expulsions were illegal in the first place. And when it comes to removing him from the party? Faber says the NPC can’t just pass a resolution and call it a day. He insists that’s not how it works under the U.D.P’s own constitution.

Patrick Faber, Former Area Representative, Collet

“This party is democratic. If they want to bring a charge against me, to say I am disruptive or I have breached the constitution of the party, I have no problem with that. Do it the proper way. Bring the charge, take it to the central executive and say Faber has to go and then send it to the ethic committee. The ethic committee will come in and say Faber why did you do this and give us your answer. Then the ethic committee will say, Faber you know what, you really out of order, you got to go. Here is your expulsion or suspension or a hundred dollars fine or a letter of reprimand. Those are the four outcomes from the ethics committee. Again, you will understand the court was clear there was no expulsion. So they cannot vote to reinstate me. I am a member of the party. What they may do is decide that they want me expelled and they have to go through the process, which is to bring a charge through the central executive committee. I the tell them how to do it.”

Faber Questions Legitimacy of Espat and Almendarez Representation

All eyes are on the internal dynamics of the United Democratic Party as Senator Patrick Faber raises a new concern: how will the party manage future NPC meetings when some constituencies now have two caretakers? Take Belize Rural South, for instance, both Beverly Williams and David Almendarez are holding the fort until a convention is called. And in Albert, while Opposition Leader Tracy Panton is the sitting area rep, there’s still the question: will Jose UC Espat continue as caretaker there?

Patrick Faber, Former Area Representative, Collet

“Ok, so they will reinstate everybody. What will happen in the subsequent NPC. So you will have Mr. Uk and the honorable Panton in the meeting? You will have Ms. Williams and crazy man Almendarez in the meeting? The convention is a stretch to take this party under Shyne Barrow and Michael Peyrefitte a little bit longer to October. The constitution of our party says the NPC is always active. So if you have some standard bearers that did not get appointed back as caretaker, there still is an NPC because each constituency has a chair and secretary. They change up the chair and secretary. They are preparing the party for Tracy Panton they say, but yet Tracy Panton cannot give her input on what is right for the party in terms of the list. All we are asking is for them to do what they ought to do by the constitution of the party. So show me where the eleven people who supported Tracy was expelled. Better yet show me where the process that was endorsed by the constituencies. I sure Belize Rural Central never endorse Almendarez. Not a single soul from the UDP Belize Rural Central endorse Almendarez. They never asked, they never bring it to NPC. So how Almendarez become a candidate. Then he must come to the meeting and vote, but Ms. Bev, who was duly put there, cannot come and vote.”

Moses Barrow: “Patrick Faber is the Sickness in the UDP”

Former Mesopotamia Area Representative Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow is standing firm, insisting he is the duly elected leader of the party, even as he faces a challenge from Tracy Panton. On Saturday, Shyne threw his full support behind the motion to remove Patrick Faber, going as far as to say that Faber is the real ‘sickness’ plaguing the U.D.P. Strong words from a man fighting to hold onto the reins of a deeply divided party.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Former Area Representative, Mesopotamia

“We didn’t anyone to physically assault the colleague.”

Paul Lopez

“How regrettable is this knowing that this does not bode well for the unity you all are attempting to build?”

Moses “Shyne” Barrow

“That is Patrick Faber. It is what he has always been about. I just hope that whoever succeeds me as leader does not take any direction from him. He has been prone to self-destruction. He was at the mountain top and he threw himself from the mountain top. He is definitely not someone to take advice from.”

Paul Lopez

“Any attempt to remove Patrick Faber permanently will definitely not sit well with Ms. Panton and her team. So this is a continued slippery slope we are going down.”

Moses “Shyne” Barrow

“Who came to the meeting today? You ever see me or any of the colleagues that are official leaders go to Euphrates or involve ourselves in anything Ms. Panton is doing. But it is quite unfortunate, there must be consequences. It cant be that the party move forward with these types of tumors. We need to treat ourselves and it is evident that after today he is the main sickness in the UDP.”

Police Decline UDP Request to Remove Faber

As we reported earlier, the United Democratic Party made a bold move over the weekend, calling on police to remove Patrick Faber from Saturday’s meeting. But in a surprising twist, law enforcement didn’t budge. Today in Belmopan, reporters caught up with the Commissioner of Police, Doctor Richard Rosado, to find out why the police chose to stay out of it.

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“I want to echo that the police department will not intervene in the domestic affair of any political party. If an incident occur that requires the police to intervene if a crime has occurred, it will be thoroughly investigated and of there is evidential material to support the charges, charges will be load.”

PM Briceño Backs Pott Amid Party Rift in Caye Caulker

There’s political buzz coming out of Caye Caulker tonight. Prime Minister John Briceño is standing firmly behind Chairlady Seleny Villanueva-Pott, who reclaimed her seat in the recent village council elections. But the win didn’t come without controversy, especially after P.U.P. Mayor Wally Nuñez threw his support behind Pott, instead of his own party’s slate. The prime minister, though, says Nuñez had every right to back whoever he believed in.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I think that the chairlady point out very quickly that she is a PUP and Wally felt that she is a friend and a colleague of him and he wanted to support her and he did. That is his right. And, the important thing is that Caye Caulker had two very good young ladies running and they decided to stay with Seleny and I support that.”

Peyrefitte Returns as UDP Rift Widens: Unity Deal in Doubt

Rifts within the United Democratic Party show no signs of healing, and tonight, a familiar face is stepping back into the political spotlight, but this time, with a message of both hope and frustration. U.D.P. Chairman Michael Peyrefitte officially re-entered the political arena last week, following what he described as a “unified agreement” among key party leaders, including Shyne Barrow, Hugo Patt, and Alberto August. The idea is to chart a clear and cohesive path forward for a party that has faced internal divisions in recent months. But that unity, it seems, may have been short-lived. Despite what Peyrefitte calls “significant concessions” made by senior members to foster reconciliation, he now says recent developments suggest the party remains fractured and elusive in its direction. So, what’s next for the U.D.P.? Peyrefitte tells us that discussions are underway to implement a new framework aimed at restoring party stability and rebuilding public trust. While details remain under wraps, he emphasized the urgency of the moment and the need for decisive leadership.

Michael Peyreffite, Chairman, U.D.P.

“Well as I said last week or the week before when I came back as Chairman that we would be charting a way forward to bring about unity and peace within the UDP. As Chairman I called a leadership meeting, myself, Shyne Barrow, Hugo Patt, Alberto August, Omar Figuerroa, Tony Hererra and Aldo Salazar, those are the respective regional leaders and executives of the UDP. We decided we’d have a healthy, meaningful discussion and I am happy to report that things are looking very very very positive. There were people in that meeting who it would be fair for the public to say they were “pro-Shyne” and some were “Pro-Tracy”, it’s fair to say that and both sides had sober conversations with the first priority and only priority being the welfare of the UDP. We will be releasing to the media the terms of what we came to and to indicate the way forward what we will be presenting to the central executive and to the national party council but I think that we made great great progress together a lot of it has been miscommunication and I just thought that we have people in the room who can communicate properly and then disseminate that information to the rest of the party but as I said there will be more information coming out later on today.”

Peyrefitte Breaks Silence on UDP Turmoil, Clarifies Panton Expulsion

Just when it seemed the waters couldn’t get any murkier within the United Democratic Party, Chairman Michael Peyrefitte is stepping in to clear the air, both in the courtroom and within party ranks. In an interview with News Five, Peyrefitte broke down the legal interpretation behind Tracy Panton’s controversial expulsion, offering much-needed clarity on a ruling that’s sparked plenty of debate. But he didn’t stop there. The Chairman also addressed what he called ongoing “miscommunication” within the U.D.P., stressing the need for better internal dialogue to prevent further division.

Michael Peyreffite, Chairman, U.D.P.

“We had a ruling, a clarification ruling if you will, by Justice Hondora last week, in my view, in every respectable lawyer’s view, he did nothing more than just further explain his judgement and what the expulsion meant for Tracy Panton in particular. He just said that he gave a further definition of what void and no land void meant but it did not change the fact that he reiterated that for Mrs. Panton to be brought back into the UDP there has to be a vote, that part of the judgement was not changed and that part of the judgement in my view was even amplified and it’s not strange, it’s not strange That of course at the next NPC that will be coming up very shortly will be item one in the agenda, do you vote to bring back the honorable Panton from expulsion? Do you vote to have those members not in good standing be in good standing and I can tell you from my perspective I will be voting yes and have them come back, join back the UDP be a part of the UDP family so we can move on.”

Private Chat Leaked: Peyrefitte Urges Transparency

In the world of politics, private conversations don’t always stay private, and this week, U.D.P. Chairman Michael Peyrefitte found himself at the center of just that. Following the leak of a private exchange with Opposition Leader Tracy Panton, Peyrefitte is speaking out. He’s not denying it happened; instead, he’s acknowledging that in political life, these things can and do occur. But more importantly, he’s using the moment to call for something bigger: transparency and unity within the United Democratic Party. Peyrefitte says it’s time to stop the distractions and start focusing on what really matters, bringing the party together.

Michael Peyreffite, Chairman, U.D.P.

“A piece of communication was leaked between myself and Tracy Panton it got into the media, I don’t put myself on some pedestal you know, not even presidents of big countries can stop leaks, leaks will happen but in the spirit of transparency and in the spirit of trying to get to a place where the UDP can be the UDP again if it leaks it leaks you know it’s not secret we are a mass party and I would love for the media to know and for the people to know every step that we are taking to get back to that place of unity and strength so there was a communication, was it ever my desire for it to become public? No. We’re communicating between two party people, but it leaked, it happens but nothing in there was ignitious nothing in there was a lie and hopefully the public can see that it was an attempt to try and make peace in the party, so it is what it is.”

Well, that’s where things stand tonight, calls for unity, clarity, and a fresh start from within the United Democratic Party. Chairman Michael Peyrefitte is urging members to put the past behind them and focus on reconciliation and renewed purpose. But whether those efforts will truly heal the party’s internal rifts? That remains to be seen. Still, the U.D.P. is laying out a roadmap. The National Party Council is set to meet right here in Belize City on July twelfth, where they’ll consider reinstating expelled members and those previously not in good standing. It signals a clear intent to rebuild trust. And that’s not all, plans are also in motion for a national convention on October fifth, with special constituency conventions happening across fifteen areas throughout July.

Panton and Team Go Back to Court for Clarification

The rift inside the United Democratic Party is deepening. Tracy Taegar-Panton and her camp are once again challenging the leadership of Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow, this time, in court. After a judge ruled her expulsion from the party was unlawful, Panton is making it clear: she and other senior members aren’t going anywhere. In fact, she says they remain full members, with all rights and privileges intact. But the party’s official response? Not so fast. A press release under the UDP’s letterhead insists the court hearing changes nothing. So, who’s really calling the shots, and what does this mean for the future of the UDP? We caught up with Panton today in Belmopan.

Tracy Taegar-Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“I thought the court ruling was clear the first time around when it was published on the twenty-first of May. However the way we were treated as members of the party did not reflect the decision of the judge. We sought clarification internally and there was a difference of view as to what the judge said and meant. So, the only way to declare is to seek clarification from the high court, which was done. The High Court has now made it abundantly clear that the expulsions were illegal. They are invalid, therefore void and of no legal effect. That was my understand the first time. Now the onus is on the Central Executive of the party to ensure that my membership and the membership of the other colleagues who were purportedly expelled be dne away with, that our rights and privileges be recognized as members of the UDP, so we can move forward in an effort to try and bridge the divide, unite the party and be the robust opposition that we have a mandate to be.”