And while the news is the UDP's victory, the story is the PUP's defeat. For party leader Said Musa, it is his first national defeat in 10 years of leadership. It comes at a time when his administration is coming off its most trying year ever after significant civil unrest and protests last year. Now it's clear that just three years after a decisive general election victory, the PUP has lost the support of many who voted for it in 2003. What accounts for the steep falloff in support? The Prime Minister discussed this and other issues in a press briefing today.
We begin with his prepared remarks where he spoke frankly about the defeat and his best wishes for the Leader of the Opposition and his mayors.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister
"The people have spoken. Following a vigorous campaign in all our municipalities, the United Democratic Party has been victorious. I congratulate the Leader of the Opposition, all the new Mayors and Councilors on their outstanding performance. As I indicated to Mr. Barrow this morning when I called to congratulate him and his party, I stand ready to meet with all the new Mayors and pledge the support of government to work in cooperation with the Councils to continue with the development of our cities and towns to create a better life for the people.
For the PUP, the results of these municipal elections impel us to sober reflection. Our party has been chastened, we must do better. We have to remain in constant touch with the people at every level; listening to their concerns and addressing the things that affect them. I heard the call for more open government and the need for greater community involvement and participation. Throughout this campaign the media has played an important role and I congratulate them. Our government has done a lot in the way of reform but clearly we have not gone far enough. It is my hope and prayer that as a people we must remain united in our endeavors to face the challenges that lie ahead in the socio-economic development of our country.
The people have spoken, there should be no victimization. We cannot afford to allow political differences to retard progress and growth in our nation. I call on the ministries and departments of government to cooperate fully with the municipal bodies without political discrimination. In turn I call on the mayors and councilors not to victimize their workers. The people voted for a change. They got it. Now they must prove themselves as servants of the people just as how for the next two years the PUP government must work even harder to regain the confidence of the people. The watchwords are service and unity, not confrontation and divisiveness.
Before closing I wish to thank our team of candidates and campaigners as well as the brilliant P.R. team for your hard work against all odds. We fought the good fight. All is not lost, 25 years after independence the strength of our democracy has again been tested and proven worthy of universal acclaim. All Belizean can take pride in this. Once again we have shown our troubled world that in Belize, we can settle our differences in peaceful in peaceful, free and fair elections."
After those prepared remarks, the Prime Minister fielded questions from the press, as they tried to find out who's responsible for the loss and what the party plans to do about it.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"It is not the time for recrimination and looking for a scapegoat. I think all of us must resort to very sober reflection, when I say all of us I mean the leadership of the PUP. We are not looking for any whipping boy, we are not looking to blame anyone. If anything I accept responsibility for the performance of the People's United Party."
Ann-Marie Williams, The Reporter
"Are we going to see a shakeup within your party?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I think it's too early to say anything on that issue. Like I said we are going through a process of evaluation, analysis; I haven't even seen all the details of the statistics."
Janelle Chanona, News 5
"Is this party in a leadership crisis as far as within he party of having that fill support, coming together, that unity?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I wouldn't categorize it is as a leadership crisis, I would say that the party is in the process of renewing itself. New leaders are coming forward, aspiring for leadership positions, no doubt, one day. That obviously gives rise to a bit of tension within the party, it's a natural process. And yes if you look at 18 months ago with the G7, that obviously must have played a part because in the minds, they must have felt that the PUP was facing divisiveness, division within the ranks, and that always hurts the PUP. We only lose elections when we are divided. I think you can expect a similar performance of the PUP, when we hit rock bottom, that is when we are at our best so you will see a PUP rebounding very fast. But I also believe that we lost ground yes and I believe many of the people who voted yesterday are really deep down PUP and so my task as leader of this party will be to win back those people."
Jules Vasquez,
How much is a referendum on your popularity are the failure of that popularity? Clearly the brand of Said Musa, you appeared with every single Mayoral candidate, and could it not be said that their failure was in fact a reflection of their very close assrelationship with their national leader.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Of course it can be said, you have said it. That can be said, yes. My opinion doesn't matter in this. What matters is how the people think about it."
Jules Vasquez,
But haven't the people made a conclusion that the Said Musa brand is what they voted against, you being so closely associated with each municipal leadership?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well the Said Musa brand won overwhelming victories for the PUP in 1998, in 2003, at both the national and municipal levels. This is our first defeat."
Jules Vasquez,
Do you not feel that your performance is what should account most for the failure at the polls yesterday?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well there is no doubt that any government that raises taxes, or any government that puts on an increment freeze on teachers and public officers, does suffer a serious blow to its credibility and not only to its popularity as well. All those things obviously played a part. The public service, teachers, we are talking about over 10,000 people and you tamper with their increments that they feel fully justified in getting, that's a serious blow to them and they take it out on you."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir 64 to 3, your first defeat as PUP leader since 1996, how does it feel emotionally?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Obviously I feel down. I might not look it but yeah defeat is never a nice taste, nobody really likes it, but I tell you one thing, its not time I've lost in politics and I find that in defeat you gain a lot of experience, emotional as well as the necessary fiber that one needs in politics to come back, rebound very strongly."
Jules Vasquez,
What do you make of the rollbacks of PUP strongholds? You all lost in every division in the city, I don't have the numbers either, but I am told that with the exception of Fort George where they were significant losses as well, PUP strongholds such as Pickstock, Freetown, Albert, Lake I, you lost in all those. What do you make of it specifically, not just to say national issues?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Clearly there was a tremendous swing in favor of the red in this election and that told the story. The story is there."
Jules Vasquez,
Is this an indictment?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No there's no indictment, it's a clear indication of a swing in favor of the UDP."
Jules Vasquez,
The swing sir is a matter of fact but what would motivate people to go so much against a well marketed government.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"That would require analysis and I would leave that to the political pundits to give us all the explanations. Obviously there are many factors involved here as to what caused the defeat of the PUP."
Jules Vasquez,
Might it not be ineptitude or corruption of your government?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"It might be said."
Jules Vasquez,
Would you agree with such a view?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No I would not agree this election was lost because of corruption because politics, perception in politics is important. That was the real issue here. I think the real issue here was whether we had maintained the confidence of the people."
Jules Vasquez,
You've always said you enjoy a mandate, in fact you have a 5 year mandate, but do you think that presently with the response of the electorate yesterday that you currently have a mandate?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I believe we still maintain a mandate, definitely."
Jules Vasquez,
How do you from the showing at the polls say that you still have a mandate?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well first of all I think there are many many factors that go into a municipal election as compared to a general election. In a general election you are looking at generals literally, one person that the people either have confidence in or they don't that they support or like or don't. It's a far different race altogether."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir if elections were in three months do you think you would win?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Hard to say, I wouldn't like to speculate on that. We're not going to have an election in three months, I can tell you that."
Janelle Chanona,
"PM any previews of your budget speech..."
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"In every budget there are taxes but there'll be no increase in taxes, I can assure you. As I said during the campaign, and I meant it, yes there are always pressures coming from different quarters to raise this and raise that but I believe that we can provide a good budget without an increase in taxes."
