Belizean general election, 1998

Last updated
Belizean general election, 1998
Flag of Belize.svg
←  1993 27 August 1998 2003  →
All 29 seats in the Belize House of Representatives
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Said Musa.jpg Manuel Esquivel.jpg
PDP
Leader Said Musa Manuel Esquivel Estevan Perera [1]
Party PUP UDP PDP
Leader since199619831995
Leader's seat Fort George Caribbean Shores (lost seat)Candidate in Belize Rural North [2]
Last election13 seats15 seats(new party)
Seats won26 seats3 seats0 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg13Decrease2.svg12Steady2.svg
Popular vote50,33033,237225
Percentage59.67%39.41%0.27%
SwingIncrease2.svg8.4Decrease2.svg9.3Increase2.svg0.27
 Fourth party
 
NABR
Leader Philip Goldson (de facto)
Party NABR
Leader since1991
Leader's seat Albert (not running)
Last election1 seat [3]
Seats won0 seats
Seat changeDecrease2.svg1
Popular vote174
Percentage0.21%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.9
Prime Minister before election

Manuel Esquivel
UDP

Subsequent Prime Minister

Said Musa
PUP

Belize
Coat of arms of Belize.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Belize

General elections were held in Belize on 27 August 1998. [4] The result was a victory for the People's United Party, which won 26 of the 29 seats and Said Musa was elected as Prime Minister for the first time. [5] Voter turnout was 90.1%, the highest since independence. [4]

Belize country in Central America

Belize is a country located on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the northwest by Mexico, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by Guatemala. It has an area of 22,970 square kilometres (8,867 sq mi) and a population of 387,879 (2017). Its mainland is about 180 mi (290 km) long and 68 mi (110 km) wide. It has the lowest population and population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2015) is the second highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.

Peoples United Party Belizean political party

The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the main opposition party with 12 of 31 seats in the House of Representatives. It is a centre-left Christian democratic party. The party leader is Johnny Briceño, who currently serves as Belize's Leader of the Opposition.

Said Musa Belizean politician

Said Wilbert Musa is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008.

Contents

Background

The ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) was widely perceived as incompetent, incapable of governing and riddled with corruption. Crime and unemployment rose while a number of government projects were universally panned. After winning nationwide municipal elections in 1994, they had lost two other municipal votes in 1996 and 1997. The PUP capitalized on the people's anger to present a manifesto of far-reaching proposals which they claimed would "Set Belize Free".

United Democratic Party (Belize) political party in Belize

The United Democratic Party (UDP) is one of the two major political parties in Belize. It is the ruling party, having won the 2008, 2012 and 2015 general elections. A centre-right conservative party, the UDP is led by Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow.

Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. An illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties, is done under color of law or involves trading in influence.

Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel advised Governor General Sir Colville Young to dissolve the House of Representatives on 13 July 1998. The House stood dissolved with effect from 15 July 1998.

Election day was set for 27 August 1998. [6] Nomination day was 11 August 1998; five political parties nominated 79 candidates, with three independents contesting.

One controversy as the election date drew near was Attorney General Dean Barrow's rushed appointment of Manuel Sosa to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on 19 August to replace the ailing George Singh, just days before the election. [7] [8] Then-opposition leader Said Musa objected to this last minute appointment, and after his party took power was able to have it overturned on the grounds that he had not been properly consulted on the appointment as required by the constitution. [9]

Dean Barrow Belizean politician

Dean Oliver Barrow is a Belizean politician who has been Prime Minister of Belize since 2008. He is also the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) since 1998. An attorney by trade, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was Leader of the Opposition from 1998 until the UDP won the February 2008 election. Barrow started his first term as Prime Minister after victory in the 2008 election. He started his second term after the UDP again won an election on 7 March 2012. He started his third term when the UDP won again on 4 November, 2015.

Sir Manuel Sosa CBE is the President of the Belize Court of Appeal, a position he has held since 3 January 2011.

The Supreme Court of Judicature of Belize is one of three tiers of courts in Belize, the lower ones being the Magistrate's Courts and the Court of Appeal. It is a court of original jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases as well as an appellate court. It is governed by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (SCJA).

The National Alliance for Belizean Rights, which had run in coalition with the UDP in the previous election, chose to run on its own despite its sole member in the House, Philip Goldson, standing down. The party failed to win any seats and was not a factor in the election.

The National Alliance for Belizean Rights (NABR), formed as the Patriotic Alliance for Territorial Integrity, was a political party in Belize in the 1990s. The party colour was forest green.

Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson was a Belizean newspaper editor, activist and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Belize as member for the Albert constituency from 1965 to 1998 and twice as a minister. Goldson was a founding member of both of Belize's current major political parties, the People's United Party (PUP) in the 1950s and the United Democratic Party (UDP) in the 1970s. He was also the leading spokesman of the hardline anti-Guatemalan territorial claims National Alliance for Belizean Rights party in the 1990s.

Results

The PUP won 26 of a possible 29 seats, the most lopsided general election win since independence. Several high-ranking UDP members went down to defeat, most notably Esquivel himself in Caribbean Shores. Only Barrow in Queen's Square and Michael Finnegan in Mesopotamia retained their seats for the UDP, while Erwin Contreras narrowly defeated the PUP's Amin Hegar in Cayo West for the UDP's third seat. [10] Barrow became UDP leader shortly after the election.

Caribbean Shores is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2012 by Santino "Santi" Castillo of the United Democratic Party.

Queen's Square is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 1984 by Dean Barrow of the United Democratic Party. Barrow has served as UDP leader since 1998 and Prime Minister of Belize since 2008.

Michael Kwame Finnegan is a Belizean politician and a member of the United Democratic Party. He is currently Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Prime Minister Dean Barrow's cabinet. He is a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Mesopotamia Electoral Division in Belize City. Finnegan hosts the television show Mek Wave and Lik Road.

PartyVotes%Seats+/-
People's United Party 50,33059.6726+13
United Democratic Party 33,23739.413-12
People's Democratic Party 2250.270New
National Alliance for Belizean Rights 1740.210-1
National Reality Truth Creation Party 70.00New
Independents3720.4400
Invalid/blank votes531---
Total84,876100290
Source: Nohlen

Related Research Articles

Manuel Esquivel Belizean politician

Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel, KCMG, PC is a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998.

Elections in Belize

Elections in Belize are the duly held elections held at various levels of government in the nation of Belize.

Jose Coye is a Belizean politician and a member of the People's United Party (PUP). He trained as a Chartered Accountant and worked as a customs officer before going into politics.

House of Representatives (Belize) lower house of Belize

The House of Representatives of Belize is one of two chambers of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives."

2003 Belizean general election

A legislative election was held in Belize on 5 March 2003. Belizeans elected 29 members to the House of Representatives for a term of five years.

1984 Belizean general election

General elections were held in Belize on 14 December 1984. The result was a victory for the opposition United Democratic Party, which won 21 of the 28 seats. Voter turnout was 75.0%.

2006 Belizean municipal elections

Belize municipal elections, 2006 were a series of local elections held on March 1, 2006, to fill vacancies for town councils in Corozal, Orange Walk, San Pedro, San Ignacio, Benque Viejo, Dangriga, Punta Gorda, Belize City and Belmopan. All the councils except Belize City elected one mayor and six councillors; Belize City elected one mayor and ten councillors.

Leader of the Opposition (Belize) parliamentary position of Belizes House of Representatives

The Leader of the Opposition of Belize is an elected official who, according to the Constitution, "commands the support of those elected officials that do not support the Government." He or she speaks on behalf of the Opposition Members of Belize's House of Representatives.

2008 Belizean general election

A legislative election was held in the nation of Belize on February 7, 2008. Beginning with this election, Belizeans elected 31 members to the House of Representatives of Belize instead of 29. In what was considered an upset, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won the election with 25 out of 31 seats; the ruling People's United Party won six.

Dean Russel Lindo was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.

John Birchman Saldivar is a Belizean politician. A member of the United Democratic Party, Saldivar has represented the Belmopan constituency in the Belize House of Representatives since its creation in 2008. He was previously Area Representative for Cayo South.

George Bawa Singh was a Belizean judge, who served briefly as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Attorney-General of Belize is a cabinet-level official who acts as the principal legal adviser to the government of Belize.

2015 Belizean general election

General elections were held in Belize on 4 November 2015 to elect members of the House of Representatives. On 28 September 2015 Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that he had advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly and to fix Wednesday 4 November 2015 as the date for the next general elections.

Next Belizean general election

The next Belizean general election will elect members of the country's House of Representatives. It must be held on or before 13 February 2021.

References

  1. ↑ Belize Political Parties – A List From 1950 To The Present, Belize.com. (accessed 23 October 2014)
  2. ↑ General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 23 October 2014)
  3. ↑ In coalition with the UDP
  4. 1 2 Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p104 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  5. ↑ Unofficial election results of twenty-nine constituencies, Channel 5 Belize, August 28, 1998. (accessed 5 October 2014)
  6. ↑ "Election day set for August 27th". News 5 Belize. 1998-07-13. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  7. ↑ "New Chief Justice to be appointed before election". News 5 Belize. 1998-08-19. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  8. ↑ "Sosa sworn in as Chief Justice". News 5 Belize. 1998-08-26. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Manuel Sosa sworn in as Court of Appeal Judge". News 5 Belize. 1999-06-23. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  10. ↑ General Elections 1998, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.