Two weeks ago, a University of Belize poll showed that Prime Minister Said Musa was running third in the Toledo District behind Dean Barrow and independent candidate Will Maheia. It's a staggering indictment, but slowly, slowly, the PUP have been working to discredit the poll. Now, they've launched a direct personal attack on Yasmine Andrews who developed the methodology behind the poll.
Without really challenging the data, the PUP claim that she fraudulently used the name of the University of Belize in the poll. To back that up the University today sent out a press release saying that it did not endorse the information in the poll. So where does that leave poll-meister Yasmine Andrews? Speaking with us via telephone today, she said those attacks don't change the data.
Yasmine Andrews,
"Anyone who would dispute any of the results kindly come in and they can take data and redo the entire test and I stand firm again with absolute confidence that those results are accurate but the thing here Jules is that UB is not and they cannot dispute the results, they can dispute the technical analysis because they were not a part of it. So really what they are doing, I see as insignificant. It is reasonable that for those who the results are not in favor for, for them to be frustrated and for them to be critical. Otherwise I see the criticisms are irrelevant."
Jules Vasquez,
How can you trust a poll which was conducted by someone who they claim is unethical and fraudulent?
Yasmine Andrews,
"Well Jules let me tell you something, that is quite immature. And for them to try to say because I write in The Guardian that I am this and that, that is total stupidness. That is totally irrelevant to what we did. Those numbers are either right or wrong, there is no element of subjectivity, there is no element for opinionated action."
