Landslide victory: Opposition party wins election

BELMOPAN:

The main opposition People’s United Party (PUP) romped home to a convincing victory in Thursday’s general election and urged the entire nation to come together to build a “better Belize” in the future.

Preliminary reports give the PUP as many as 25 of the 31 seats in the parliament, representing what television commentators were claiming to be “the new Blue wall” in Belize.

“So join us, thank you Belize, thank you so much, stay safe, God bless you and God bless our beloved Belize,” PUP leader John Briceno told a small gathering as many supporters were prevented from attending the ceremony due to the curfew that has been in place in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Briceno acknowledged that he had received a telephone call from the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) Patrick Faber, who was leading the ruling party into a general election for the first time since outgoing Prime Minister Dean Barrow had earlier announced his retirement from active politics.

The UDP was seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in office, having won the 2015 general election by a 17 t0 14 margin under Barrow.