From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia United Democratic Party (Belize)
United Democratic Party (Belize)
United Democratic Party United Democratic Party on September 27, 1973, in time
for general elections called for October 1974.
Leader Dean Barrow
Founded 1973
Early electoral success
Headquarters Belize City, Belize
A field of eighteen candidates were selected for the par-
Ideology Progressive, ty’s bid in 1974. The UDP won six seats and came within
Social democracy a combined eighteen votes of winning three more. Dean
Regional affiliation Caribbean Democrat Union
Lindo was subsequently named Leader, and Joseph An-
drews of Cayo Deputy Leader.
Official colors Red The UDP won municipal votes in 1974 and 1977 and
Website gained seats in 1975 and 1978, with their only setback
coming with the defection of an area representative to
[1] the PUP. It was considered only a matter of time before
the UDP formed a government. However, their 1979 bid
The United Democratic Party is one of Belize’s two major failed; in the November 21 elections the UDP won only
political parties, and the current governing party. After five seats and party leader Lindo lost his to newcomer
ten years in opposition, the UDP won the February 2008 Said Musa. During this period the UDP advocated a cau-
election with 25 out of 31 seats.[1] tious position on the status of the Guatemalan claim and
Former Prime Minister of Belize Manuel Esquivel a conservative view of economic policy.
twice led the UDP to electoral victories in 1984 and 1993
before losing in 1998 and resigning. The present leader of
the party is Prime Minister Dean Barrow, an attorney by Internal dissension and re-
trade. The party presents a centre-left, social democratic
ideology.
grouping
The party colors are red and white. Its motto is In the early 1980s, the UDP suffered from internal ma-
"Keeping Democracy Alive". neuvering against new leader Theodore Aranda, a Gar-
• Party Leader: Dean Barrow ifuna from Dangriga. Aranda often claimed that Belize
• Deputy Leaders: Gaspar Vega, Erwin Contreras City elements were attempting to stall his leadership, a
• Chairman: Patrick Faber view refuted by other political observers. Nevertheless, it
• Vice Chairman: Roosevelt Blades seemed the UDP had lost some of its original fervour. It
put up only token resistance to the controversial Heads
of Agreement designed to settle the Guatemalan claim in
Past leaders March 1981, and its position that independence be de-
• Phillip Goldson (with NIP) (1961–1974) layed to coincide with the resolution of the claim did not
• Dean Lindo (1974–1979) sit well with some parts of the electorate. Nevertheless,
• Dr. Theodore Aranda (1979–1982) the UDP retained three towns in elections of December
• Dr. Manuel Esquivel (1983–1998) 1981.
In late 1982 Aranda was removed as head of the party
Founding and opposition leader, replaced by Belize City Represen-
tative Curl Thompson. At a January 1983 convention to
In 1974, electoral opposition in Belize was weak; the rul- settle the leadership of the party, college lecturer and
ing People’s United Party (PUP) had never lost a legisla- UDP Senator Esquivel defeated popular former leader
tive election since its founding. The main opposition par- Goldson. Recovered from its dissension and benefiting
ties included the National Independence Party (NIP) and from the unpopularity of the PUP government then in
the People’s Development Movement (PDM), led respec- power, the UDP won Belize City Council elections in De-
tively by Phillip Goldson and Dean Lindo. Representatives cember 1983 to set up a general elections showdown in
of both parties, together with a new Liberal Party led by 1984.
Manuel Esquivel, met to consider joining forces to fight
the PUP electorally. The three parties fused into the new
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia United Democratic Party (Belize)
First government passed in assembly) and began actively courting Goldson
and Elrington. Aikman was forced out of his constituency
Riding on the shoulders of popular sentiment and the on charges of bankruptcy in 1992.
blunders of the PUP, Esquivel led the UDP to a resounding In January 1993, the United Kingdom elected to re-
victory in general elections of December 14, 1984, se- move most of their troops kept in Belize to stop Gu-
curing 21 seats out of a possible 28 (the number having atemala from pressing its claim. This, combined with
been upgraded from eighteen). Esquivel pursued a course electoral success in the bye-election for Aikman’s seat
of minimal government, choosing to concentrate on ex- and the municipal elections of 1993 in Belize City em-
ports and luring foreign investment. boldened the PUP to call elections 18 months ahead of
During its term in office the UDP joined the Inter- schedule, on June 30, 1993. With less than a month to
national Democratic Union and Caribbean Democratic go before voting, the UDP uncovered evidence that the
Union, two groupings of political parties, in 1984 and PUP was secretly encouraging alien immigrants to reg-
1985, respectively. ister and vote in the elections. The UDP also hoped to
The UDP, in preparing for general elections in 1989, prove that the PUP encouraged the British to leave, in-
boasted of "rescuing the economy" and turning around tending to again concede Belize to Guatemala.
the fortunes of less fortunate Belizeans. They pointed For further information on these events see National Al-
to improvements in education, transport, tourism, in- liance for Belizean Rights.
dustry, agriculture and social lifestyles. However, black
marks against the UDP included too much dependence
on Taiwan and the United States, and lack of party unity.
Second government
The PUP had scored victories in municipal towns in the The UDP, in coalition with National Alliance for Belizean
late 1980s, and said they intended to "Put Belizeans Rights (NABR), won general elections of June 30, 1993 by
First", a reference to the aforementioned domination of 16 seats to 13 for the PUP. Manuel Esquivel was elected
government by Taiwanese and American investors. prime minister for a second time. Notable about the
UDP’s victory is that only 49% or so of Belizeans voted for
Between the governments them; it is the only time in Belizean political history that
a party recorded a win in general elections without the
The UDP lost general elections of September 4, 1989 by a majority of national voter support.
tally of 15 seats to 13. Esquivel became Leader of the Op- Early in the UDP’s second term in office, Guatemala
position for the second time. The UDP, while appearing revived its claim to Belize, stating that all territory south
to be stable outwardly, faced a series of events that near- of the Sibun River was theirs and demanding a hearing
ly split the party in half. in the International Court of Justice. The two countries
In September 1991, Guatemala recognised Belize as a would eventually begin another series of talks, although
separate territory after pressing a claim to its lands for border incidents involving Guatemalans entering the
the previous two and a half centuries. Belizeans took the country illegally and Belizean law enforcement contin-
news warily, well aware that Guatemala could be tricky ued.
with regard to their claim. As part of the resolving of the The UDP were able to make further improvements in
dispute, Belize signed a Maritime Areas Bill that recog- several sectors of Belizean life, including the reduction
nised Guatemala’s right to Caribbean access that would of gang violence, the rise of tourism as a major industry,
otherwise have been denied. Esquivel and his deputy improvements in infrastructure and social development.
Dean Barrow agreed to support the Bill and help sell it to However, Belizeans were dissatisfied with the country’s
Belizeans. economic performance and the remoteness of its offi-
Unfortunately for the duo, parliamentarians from cials, including Esquivel. Opponents often scathingly
within the UDP, angry at the complicity of Esquivel and commented that Deputy Prime Minister Dean Barrow
Barrow and rigidly opposing any relations with Gu- was "Minister of Everything" due to his frequent appear-
atemala occurring without a full dropping of the claim, ances before the Belizean public. Charges of corruption
resigned in late 1991. These included Phillip Goldson, and nepotism were frequently levelled against Ministers
Derek Aikman and Hubert Elrington. This trio proceeded Salvador Fernandez, Hubert Elrington, Eduardo "Dito"
to form the Patriotic Alliance for Territorial Integrity Juan, Ruben Campos and Elodio Aragon. The PUP made
(PATI) which ultimately became the National Alliance for significant strides in popularity, much as had happened
Belizean Rights (NABR). Goldson charged in early 1992 with the previous UDP administration, and seemed
that Belizean government had become a "two-horse poised to win in 1998, even as a discouraged UDP made
race" between the PUP and UDP (meaning Esquivel and valiant attempts to shore up its public image.
Barrow) and that a third party such as NABR was needed
to straddle the middle. The embarrassed duo stopped
supporting the now Maritime Areas Act (it had been
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia United Democratic Party (Belize)
The UDP from 1998 to 2008 uary 21, and were behind the scenes encouraging union
and student activists to continue taxing the energies of
The UDP lost general elections of August 27, 1998, win- the PUP, making them weaker in the eyes of the people.
ning only three seats. Party leader Dr. Manuel Esquivel Barrow famously stated in April 2005 that if necessary
lost his seat in Caribbean Shores division and immediate- he would sanction civil disobedience among his support-
ly resigned. In early September, Dean Barrow was named ers if it meant removing the PUP. Late in the year the
Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition. UDP began naming candidates for elections in 2008, then
more than two and a half years away.
New media
The UDP established a radio station, WAVE Radio, at a National Convention
compound on Fabers Road in Belize City late in 1998 be- The UDP held its National Convention to elect party lead-
fore moving it to their headquarters off the Belchina ers in May 2006. Dean Barrow was reapproved Party
Bridge sometime thereafter. After shutting down its Leader after his success in March 2006, despite claims he
main political organ the People’s Pulse due to unpaid bills, might step down in the weeks prior to the election. Elect-
the UDP created the new Guardian newspaper to replace ed as Deputy Leaders, Chairman and Deputy Chairman
it, naming journalist Audrey Matura Tillett as editor. She respectively were Gaspar Vega, Erwin Contreras, Frank
was replaced by Herbert Panton and then by current edi- "Pawpa" Mena, and Doug Singh.
tor John Avery. WAVE’s current general manager is Juliet After former soldier Robert Garcia left his post as Na-
Thimbriel. tional Campaign Manager early in 2007, the UDP named
Karim Berges, businessman and activist, to replace him.
The 2003 General Elections
Main article: Belize legislative election, 2003 Third government
In the runup to general elections in 2003, the UDP
stressed its willingness to learn from its mistakes in of- The UDP was successful at the polls on February 7, 2008,
fice. It fielded a slate of 29 candidates for the 5 March winning 25 of 31 seats, with Barrow becoming the na-
elections. In the last three months prior to the election, tion’s fourth Prime Minister.
several scandals involving party favouritism in the ruling The new Prime Minister is on record as promising
People’s United Party gave the UDP greater confidence. honest, open administration, and has named a cabinet of
The UDP leader’s unwillingness to make a clear state- sixteen ministers and 5 ministers of state.
ment regarding Lord Michael Ashcroft’s relation to
Belizean public affairs, combined with the massive References
spending by the PUP on "dalla beer" and "caliente
[1] "Belize’s opposition party wins landslide in
dancers" cost him and his party the election.
congressional elections", Associated Press
Participation in the 2005 protests (International Herald Tribune), February 9, 2008.
Main article: 2005 Belize unrest
In January 2005, Belizeans engaged in protests against External links
the PUP’s new budget, claiming it demanded too much • Official website
from the people. UDP supporters demonstrated in front • Website of party newspaper
of the National Assembly building on January 14 and Jan-
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Democratic_Party_(Belize)"
Categories: Political parties in Belize, Political parties established in 1973, United Democratic Party (Belize), 1973 es-
tablishments in Belize
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