Since last Wednesday we have been on the ground following the campaign trail in both northern and western towns. There will only be two races for city council, and one of those will be in Belmopan. Belmopan became a capital city in 1999 and since then, there's been a PUP city council in place. With the Musa administration's foibles and pitfalls believed to be most well known in the administrative center of the country, which has the greatest concentration of public servants, the UDP now feel that it can challenge the PUP's supremacy but there's just one thing in the way, the VIP.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Since 1999 the People's United Party has controlled Belmopan's city hall and today, less than 24 hours before voters go to the polls, Eloy Waight alongside his team strode in confidence down San Martin Road. He is confident a PUP flag like this will continue flying on Trinity Boulevard.
Eloy Waight, PUP Mayoral Candidate - Belmopan
"We are going to win tomorrow, that is what the people are telling us every time we are on the street talking to them. We are going to win."
Waight is new to party politics but his family isn't. His patrimony along with what he calls a record of accomplishment by the two previous pup administrations is what he says will put his team over the top tomorrow.
Eloy Waight,
"We are going to win because we have asked everybody to come out tomorrow and the support is there for us. Our team is strong, we have a full campaign machinery on the ground, they are on the street and the response is great. Even the blindest person in Belmopan can see. Where you are standing right now, this street was built in 2000. When we came to office in 2000 there were no streets in Maya Mopan, there were no lights in Mopan, no water in Mopan."
But the United Democratic Party says that while Waight boasts about streets in Maya Mopan, these streets in Las Flores are an example of the failure of the PUP city council. Simeon Lopez is leading the UDP 7.
Simeon Lopez,
"You can see right now as you drive up Las Flores this morning. We are hearing positive things, we are hearing they want to really vote for a change, a change for the better. You know Belmopan is the administrative capital for this country and you are also dealing with those national issues, especially the issue of corruption, its very high on the people's minds right now and that's what they are going to vote against tomorrow."
But if a group of seven Belmopan residents get their way, the PUP won't return to City Hall and the UDP won't even get a chance. They call themselves Vision Inspired by the People, the VIPs, and they say that come march 2nd, they will hold the keys to Belmopan's City Hall.
Paul Morgan,
"Tomorrow we will be elected. I can't see any reason why not at this point in time. I believe that the people of Belmopan will speak tomorrow and they will speak very loudly."
All three parties will be holding pre-election rallies in Belmopan tonight.
