By Dylan Vernon, TIME COME #19, 2 January 2025.
At 11:45 pm on a cool 2025 election night, the final constituency result is in. Post-independence political history is made. It’s a clean sweep for the Blues! The PUP 31, the UDP 0. Amid the wild celebrations and the deep despair, a still energetic Jules Vasquez asks his tired panel: So, there is no Leader of the Opposition? Who will appoint the Opposition’s three senators? Who will chair the Joint Public Accounts Committee? Who will appoint Opposition members to such bodies as the Belize Advisory Council and the Elections and Boundaries Commission? With whom will the PM consult or seek concurrence when the Constitution so demands?
Unprecedented?
The inspiration for this post came from my Dad, Larry Vernon – information specialist, historian, writer, serial biographer. He sent me a query in writing – as is his style – reminding that, before independence, the PUP had clean sweep elections in 1957 (the last Legislative Assembly) and 1961 (the first House of Representatives). As such, since the 1954 adult suffrage Constitution, there are two precedents for clean sweeps in Belize’s political history – but none after independence.
In 1961, the then British Governor used his reserve powers to appoint an unelected Philip Goldson to the very first House of Representatives.… Read the rest...
I live on hill where it blows and it snows. So, I crave a place with no need for ploughs. Perhaps a warm isthmus with a nice quiet Christmas. To catch some warm breeze and escape the deep freeze. My mutt Max says, ‘let’s do Belize’. Hmmmm? But is it just what he heard from that migratory bird? That Belize now has tons of free turkeys and hams. Free turkeys and hams! Is it but a scam? The Grinch knows what to do! Trusting Max nor A.I., I will employ a good spy. Christmas in Belize? Do I go, or abort? Well, let me first read my intel report.
A curious thing happened when I applied in July 2024 to transfer my voter registration to the constituency of my current residence. As I was leaving the elections office, a woman in the waiting area demanded a copy of my receipt and proceeded to fire off personal questions. I had seen her do the same thing to other people who provided the requested information – ostensible thinking it was all official. It took me a few seconds to realise something was off. I asked her if this was an official part of the transfer process, and she answered ‘yes’ without hesitation. I asked the registering officer if this was true, and the answer was a quiet but clear ‘no’. The woman was actually a paid partisan operative, one of many in every division nationwide collecting transfer and registration data on voters. The blatant deception really ticked me off. More substantively, it reminded me of the deep-rooted fraud of illicit voter transfers that pollutes Belize’s electoral democracy every summer. 
For this TIME COME, I share a presentation I made at the Annual State of the Nation Lecture of the University of Belize. It took place on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at the UB Jaguar Auditorium in Belmopan under the theme “Fires, Floods & Hurricanes: How Do We Cope?” The audience was mostly UB students but also a national audience could tune in by live streaming. Here is the talk I gave: