UDP Challenges Questionable Voter Transfer Practices in Twin Towns
The real issue is not simply who appears on the voters’ list, but whether Belize’s political parties play by the same rules when control of a municipality is at stake. The UDP has raised concerns about outside voters, questionable transfers, proxy voting and even alleged surveillance, but its complaints also invite an uncomfortable question: is the party defending electoral fairness, or objecting to tactics both major parties have long accused each other of using? We put that question directly to San Ignacio Mayor Earl Trapp, asking whether the UDP can credibly challenge practices it has also been accused of. Trapp’s response was straightforward: if the other side believes the UDP is doing the same thing, produce the evidence and file an objection.
Shane Williams
“ You are a member of a mass party, which is the UDP, and both political parties are guilty of these type of actions that you are complaining about. What’s your reaction to that?”
Earl Trapp
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio and Santa Elena
“I I, I would, I would never, um, s- But why, why would you say both political parties? I mean, both political parties are guilty you said. Sir, if both political party were guilty- Then we need to show where… And that’s the reason why the window is left open for you to object. If in fact, first of all, I will say no one is perfect, but if there was some irregularities there with the next party, why didn’t you object? If you had your, um, if you had your proof. We had proof, obvious proof of certain things, and that’s the reason why our investigative team went out, investigated, compiled, and I submitted it to the, um, to the personnel in charge. And, um, we noticed that at that time or right after, they were disallowed to be on, on, on, i-i-in, in the town area.”
Shane Williams
“So you can confirm for us that for the Earl Trap campaign and the UDP Seven campaign in San Ignacio, we won’t see any buses coming in from outside?”
Earl Trapp
“Outside? Oh, no, no, no, no. We… No, no, no, we don’t have that, sir. No, we don’t, we don’t have… We don’t do that. Um, who would be coming from Placencia and other parts of the districts are people that live here, but they are working out. Then they come to vote, and then they go back to their work. But those people, they are actually living in San Ignacio and Santa Elena.”
We contacted PUP executives in Cayo, who questioned why the UDP waited eighteen months to raise concerns that could have been filed as election petitions following the general election. One senior executive from the PUP Western Caucus who wishes to rename anonymous says the UDP is, “just trying to set the narrative because they know their days at the Earl Trapp Building are numbered.”
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.