And the man who has to parse through all of these allegations and counter allegations is the UDP Chairman.
He spoke to us outside the Senate Chamber - and said he'll start wrestling with it tomorrow:
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"I made it very clear to the secretariat that I would be available after the senate meeting today or tomorrow morning with the secretariat to go over the petition and the petition will speak for itself. Either the threshold will be met or it won't be met and if people put in their names and withdrew their names afterwards, then we have to look at that, count the numbers and if the threshold is met, we go to a recall convention. If it's not met we don't go to a recall convention. But I have to sit down with the secretariat who were the ones who officially receive the document and work with them to make a determination going forward."
"I don't have any evidence that anybody was bribed to sign, to trigger the recall. I have no evidence to indicate that anybody was bribed to retract their signature. It's not a matter in the UDP constitution, people are allowed to change their minds. It's world law. I can say now that I want a particular soft drink and then when I can say I don't want it again. I mean you are allowed to withdraw any statements you've made in any position you've taken."
Reporter
"Tracy Panton was saying there is no provision in the UDP constitution that allows for signatures to be retracted once such a petition has been filed."
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"Like I said, there is no provision neither to say that you can't. So, I mean like I said I will sit down with the secretariat, I will go over it, but I can tell you from now that if people have retracted their signatures to say they wanted a recall to say you know what I don't want the recall again, I pull myself out of that. Then how can they considered to be a part of wanting the recall? I can't get my head around that."
Reporter
"Mr. Barrow's press release, was that premature? He hadn't met with the secretariat at all."
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"This is a free country, he is free to say what he wants. I know it doesn't become official or an official position cannot be taken until I sit down with the secretariat and make a determination."
Reporter
"How is it the party leader can make that determination without his secretariat makes that decision, because he essentially is saying that the recall has failed."
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"But that's not the official position of the party. Maybe that's just his opinion."
Reporter
"An official press release issued under the UDP."
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"I am telling you that as the chairman of the party, that is not the official position of the party on the recall."
Reporter
"How should the Belizean people be feeling about the UDP with this leadership musical chair continuing to go on?"
Michael Peyrefitte - UDP Senator
"I think the same way the people in England feel about their musical chairs. I mean big bad England, right. Our motherland, so to speak. Not even them get their act together and they are in government. So nobody can sneeze on us. This is democracy and as I was saying to the youth parliamentarians this morning, democracy is messy and it's the worse form of government ever, except for the other ones that exists."
