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 Belizeportal |
This article lists political parties in the country of Belize.
Belize has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties. It is difficult to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party.
In 1950, after the general worker union had been formed, the people's committee constituted itself as the PUP (People's United Party) and taken the majority seating in the elected Belize city council. [1] When Belize became fully independent and joined in the Commonwealth [2] on September 21, 1981, the two parties UDP (United Democratic Party) and PUP rose in the political scene. [3] This made an effect two-party system. [3] The UDP believes in pro-business and the PUP believes in pro-labour but both are closely centred in the spectrum. [3] The PUP foster the idea of political independence but their opposition UDP believe in the national interest of equitable distribution of public services from the government. [1]
The party system is dominated by the centre-left People's United Party and the centre-right United Democratic Party. There have been other small parties that have participated at all levels of governmental elections in the past. Although none of these small political parties have ever won any significant number of seats and/or offices, their challenge has been growing over the years.
| Party | Position | Ideology | Leader | Representation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House | Senate | |||||
| People's United Party (PUP) | Centre to centre-left | Christian democracy Social democracy Nationalism | Johnny Briceño | 25 / 31 | 6 / 13 | |
| United Democratic Party (UDP) | Centre-right | Conservatism | Patrick Faber | 5 / 31 | 3 / 13 | |
| Party | Position | Ideology | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belize People's Front (BPF) | Centre-left | Social democracy Progressivism | Nancy Marin |
| Belize Progressive Party (BPP) | Centre-left to left-wing | Social democracy Reformism Republicanism | Patrick Rogers |
| Vision Inspired by the People (VIP) | [ ? ] | [ ? ] | Hubert Enriquez |
These parties were/are active only in a certain area.
Belize is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the king of Belize serves as head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Belize.
British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973, until September 1981, when it gained full independence as Belize. British Honduras was the last continental possession of the United Kingdom in the Americas.
Said Wilbert Musa is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the third prime minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008.
George Cadle Price was a Belizean statesman who served as the head of government of Belize from 1961 to 1984 and 1989 to 1993. He was the first minister and premier under British rule until independence in 1981 and was the nation's first prime minister after independence that year. He is considered one of the principal architects of Belizean independence. Today he is referred to by many as the "Father of the Nation". Price effectively dominated Belizean politics from the early 1960s until his 1996 retirement from party leadership, having been the nation's head of government under various titles for most of that period.
The People's United Party is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House of Representatives. It is a centre-left Christian democratic party. The party leader is Johnny Briceño, who currently serves as the Prime Minister of Belize.
The United Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the main opposition party, having lost the 2020 Belizean general election, after previously holding the government across three prior terms. Founded as a centre-right conservative party, the UDP is led by Moses Barrow.
The flag of Belize was adopted on 21 September 1981, the day Belize became independent. It consists of the coat of arms of Belize within a white circle on a blue field with red stripes at the top and bottom.
The House of Representatives of Belize is the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives".
General elections were in Belize on 30 October 1974. Belizeans elected 18 members to the House of Representatives. The elections were the first since the country was officially renamed from British Honduras in 1973.
Amandala is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. Amandala was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been politically independent since the mid-1970s. Its offices are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City.
United Black Association for Development (UBAD) was a cultural and political party established in Belize in February 1969 and based on traditional Black Power tenets.
The Honduran Independence Party was a short-lived 1950s political party in Belize. It was essentially a splinter group of the People's United Party (PUP).
Evan Anthony Hyde is a Belizean writer, journalist, media executive and former politician. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, Amandala, and oversees its subsidiaries, KREM Radio and Krem Television.
General elections were held in Belize on 7 February 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.
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.
The history of Belize dates back thousands of years. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BC to 1200 BC and flourished until about 1000 AD. Several Maya ruin sites, including Cahal Pech, Caracol, Lamanai, Lubaantun, Altun Ha, and Xunantunich reflect the advanced civilization and much denser population of that period. The first recorded European incursions in the region were made by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries in the 16th century. One attraction of the area was the availability of logwood, which also brought British settlers.
Leigh Richardson was a Honduran-born Belizean politician. Richardson served as the leader of the People's United Party in the 1950s, and also as mayor of Belize City.
General elections were held in Belize on 7 March 2012 to elect all 31 members of the Belize House of Representatives as well as offices in the various local governments. The election was run by the Elections and Boundaries Commission's Elections and Boundaries Department. Dean Barrow and his United Democratic Party (UDP) were re-elected, but lost eight seats to the opposition People's United Party (PUP) to maintain a slim 17-14 majority in the Belize House. The upper house of the Belize National Assembly, the Senate, was appointed after the election by the UDP-led government in accordance with the Constitution of Belize.
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.
The Nationalist Movement seeking independence for Belize first arose in the 1930s and 1940s. Three groups played important roles in developing the movement. One group consisted of working-class individuals and emphasised labour issues. This group originated with Antonio Soberanis Gómez and the Labourers and Unemployed Association (LUA) between 1934 and 1937 and continued through the General Workers Union (GWU). The second group, a radical black nationalist movement, emerged during World War II. Its leaders came from the LUA and the local branch of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). This group called itself variously the British Honduras Independent Labour Party, the People's Republican Party, and the People's National Committee. The third group consisted of people such as the Christian Social Action Group (CSAG) who engaged in electoral politics within the narrow limits defined by the constitution. From the 1950s onwards the nationalist movement came to be dominated by the People's United Party which led the country to independence in 1981.
