UDP National Party Council Meeting Fails to Proceed

A Saturday meeting intended to unify the United Democratic Party (UDP) instead exposed deepening divisions that boiled over to the event ultimately failing to proceed. The UDP’s National Party Council (NPC) meeting, scheduled for Saturday, ended in disarray with the Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton claiming that her attendance and that of Corozal North Area Representative Hugo Patt were excluded from the gathering.

Panton criticised the process as illegitimate. “Anybody that Shyne Barrow believes is not supporting him remaining in a position he’s no longer qualified to hold is not invited to the NPC; that is unacceptable,” she said. “He will not be allowed to hijack the UDP.”

Police cordoned off the area as invited delegates made their way into the UDP Secretariat building on Youth for the Future Drive.

Police cordoned off the area as selected delegates entered the building. Meanwhile, several UDP members, including Panton and her supporters, were left outside and uninvited.

The meeting was ultimately abandoned after hours of standoff, which UDP’s Shyne Barrow called “a shame and disgrace.”

Meanwhile, videos of Panton showed her in a verbal exchange with police officers.