As we've shown you, on nomination day, the UDP and PUP supporters numbered in the hundreds but for the third parties it wasn't about the size of the crowd, it was about the message. The Vision Inspired by the People as well as the National Reform Party and other independents were nominated yesterday. It lacked the fanfare but the VIP and NRP candidates we spoke to were upbeat.
Patrick Rogers, VIP Candidate - Collet
"We have stood up for change. A lot of people have been taking this stand and deciding that Belize will change because they changed and that is what we are riding euphoric on because everybody we meet, I am going to shake those ladies hands and they push away my hand and give me a warm embrace and just let me know it is now. It is when God says it is the time and we are prepared. I assure you the support we are finding out there Belize, I could never ask for anything more. I can't even sleep, I am getting three hours a night sleep. I figure I'll do all my sleeping in February."
Erwin X, VIP Candidate - Port Loyola
"I am looking at a victory. And so when my people stand up in my community, a community that I grew up in, a community where I used to sell panades and garnaches, a community in which I organized the Mothers Organized for Peace, and speak out without compromise against the violence and the corruption. I understand that our people know and this is a time for victory. So brother it is not only the $200, we will get back a victory and then a direction for Belize under the leadership of Erwin X."
Seagull Joseph, VIP Candidate - Lake I
"Its on, it's a wrap. We feel good. We feel confident, that is how we feel. It is like Lotto, everybody who buys a ticket can win. Election is won on election day, t-shirts and banners can't vote."
The Vision Inspired by the People planned to nominate 10 candidates. Yesterday they only had 9 because Danna Myers, the candidate for Belize Rural Central died over the weekend from natural causes. Party members say Myers will be remembered as a tireless fighter for people's power, especially in his home village of Gales Point, Manatee. It costs $200 to register as a candidate. A candidate has to receive at least 10% of the votes in a division to get a refund on the deposit.
