And Faber also spoke with one of those UDP members who have long opposed him: John Saldivar. And Faber said it was during this talk that Saldivar indicated to him that there would be a convention in Belmopan. Faber told us today that they would have to, yet again, organize a convention in COVID times. But this time, he will ensure that it is by the book and that the party's constitution is upheld.
Hon. Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"He indicated to me that the committee would have sought to have a convention. Now, while the convention has been approved, we are in the process of determining given the increase in the covid19 level concerns that we - what is going to happen with that convention and the party is in the process of vetting nominations for the various different posts of the executive committees that have been submitted so far - are there to guide in these important matters."
Reporter
"Who sets the convention date in Belmopan and do you think that is enough time for anybody else wishing to contest for them to prepare?"
Hon. Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"The party - the way the constitution is set up, depending what the real of it and we seeking legal advice, but in the climate of covid when we have to abide by certain regulation and when things are not normal, you can't have a convention in a constituency that has 10,000 voters, when the rules say you have to have at least 5% of the population being represented, because those numbers clearly would not allow us to host a convention of that size. We have to be creative, we can't sit back and wait and so we are asking committees, but the amazing thing is that some of these committees have never met since the elections. That's another thing."
"You ask the former representative from Belmopan when last the Belmopan committee met. So it's kind of a difficult situation and I want to be crystal clear that in the absence of functioning committees, committees that have not function, just like some of the standard bearers of the last election - after the last election was finish they said we don't want to continue. No movements were made. So when that happens the onus is on the party and I supposed ultimately the onus is on the central party to ensure that these conventions are held to ensure that we hold them in a way can be most representative of the spirit of the constitution and that they can be held in a manner in which is safe given the covid situation."
And former Belmopan Mayor, Khalid Belisle, plans to contest this convention, challenging the former area rep. We asked Faber if he believes this will divide the party further:
Hon. Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"Let me be clear that what we are trying to do right now is to select what are caretakers and you will remember that I kept saying this even before the recall convention that once the elections are over and you did not win a seat you are neither fish nor fowl. You then have to seek the support of your constituency to become a caretaker that will allow you then to represent the constituency at the NPC level, so that even when the recall convention is held, and those colleagues represented and voted, it was not properly done. But for me to have said listen, you can't represent the constituencies, you can't vote, would have been further destruction. So we allow for that to happen. But the truth is that there are only as far as I know at this point 6 members; the 5 who are elected and one caretaker who was selected. I think it's the former representative from Belize Rural South Manuel Heredia who his constituency change the committee. They sought permission from the party to have a convention, selected their people and that convention endorsed Manuel Heredia as the caretaker, but everybody else has to go through that process. My point is that this is not for candidacy. This is not for standard bearer ship in the elections. This is for caretaker and so nobody needs create any kind of unnecessary rift. The people of the constituency ought to have a say, according to our constitution as to who will be their caretaker, who will represent them at the NPC, who will represent them at the national convention, who will look out for them and make sure that the constituency committees carry out their functions - who will lead that charge among them and that is what's going to happen. So all of this will be done according to as best as we can, the constitution of our great party and those bi-laws that govern the constituency executive committees."
