And while Mayor Bernard Wagner may not have to spend his last lap before Municipals in a land dispute, he may have another dispute to deal with - concerning the area that he resides.
Wagner is a resident of Los Lagos - and that is the address he put down on Nomination Day. According to Chief Elections Officer, Josephine Tamai, the nomination was "rightly accepted" but the question now remains if an election petition would be warranted in a case like this.
Especially since the Belize City Council Act says that a member of the council must be disqualified if they have not ordinarily resided in Belize City for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the election." End quote.
We asked Minister Kareem Musa today, and he said the accusations are purely UDP mischief.
Hon. Kareem Musa- Minister of Home Affairs and new Growth Ind.
"The UDP would try to stir up any sort of mud. As you can see their team that they have put forward, it is a lot to be desired to say the least for their Belize City team. I don't know about the rest of the teams, I am talking about Belize City. I don't see Belize city voters going for them so they have to try to grab at any political straw that they can. But if you were to look at the former Mayor, Mayor Zenaida Moya, she did not reside in Belize City; she lives up on the Northern Highway across the bridge. So, there is legislation in place that speaks to qualification to run for Mayor and for a Councilor in Belize City and like you rightly said, it only requires for you to be a voter in Belize not in Belize City. So, I think the Elections and Boundaries office is quite in order and quite right interpreting the law that in fact he does qualify to run as mayor."
