image by Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
Last modified: 2021-05-03 by rob raeside
Keywords: belize | belize united democratic party | belize peoples united party | belize peoples development movement |
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Belize's political system is dominated by two parties. The People's United
Party (PUP) was formed in British Honduras in 1950 and obtained the independence
of Belize, remaining the sole significant party until the establishment of the
United Democratic Party (UDP) in 1973. The UDP won the general elections for the
first time in 1988, which established a bipartite system challenged by smaller
parties, to no avail until now.
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image by Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
The Belize Green Independent Party (BGIP) was founded on 23 December 2012.
The BGIP obtained 0.00% of the votes (5 voices) in the 2015 general elections
and could not secure any seat at the Congress.
The flag of the BGIP is
horizontally divided (3:1:1:1) green-blue-white-red. Actual use of the flag is
conjectural.
Image
<https://www.facebook.com/Belizegreenindependentparty/photos/1072729872860130>
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image located by Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
The Belize People Front (BPF) was founded in 2013.
The BPF obtained 0.56% of the votes in the 2020 general
elections (3rd most voted party) and could not secure any seat at the Congress.
The flag of the BPF is horizontally divided pink-white-gray with the party's
emblem in the center.
Pink and gray colors were chosen to emphasize a
softer, less aggressive, social democratic progressive movement.
Pink /
magenta is also used because of the initiative for women to raise equally in
leadership with men, in all aspects of politics.
White represents the
anti-corruption stance of the BPF.
Gray is indicative of anti-corruption, and
independent minded leaders with Christian Democratic values.
The party's
emblem features a pink map of Belize surrounded by a gray wreath composed of 50
leaves to signify a united, protected, all-inclusive democratic nation with
intact territory.
https://belizepeoplesfront.com/documents/our-flag-logo/
Party website
Photo
https://lovefm.com/an-estimated-eighty-five-persons-nominated-for-the-upcoming-general-elections/
Image from the party website
https://belizepeoplesfront.com/documents/our-flag-logo/
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image by Randy Young, 18 January 1999
Belize People's United Party (from the book "The Complete
Guide to Flags," written by William Crampton, p.119). A
horizontal bicolor of blue over white.
Randy Young , 18 January 1999
The People’s United Party was founded in 1950 to protect and defend the
rights and lives of the people of then British Honduras who lived under colonial
rule.
On December 31, 1949 the Governor imposed the devaluation of the
Belizean dollar over the objections of the Legislative Council, unmasking the
total power of the Colonial Government. That very night, George Price and others
formed the People’s Committee at the Battlefield.
The People’s Committee
faced repression from the Colonial regime, including the declaration of a state
of emergency that lasted 137 days, but popular support flourished and on
September 29, 1950 the People’s United Party was formed, dedicated to national
unity and independence.
In the annals of political parties in Belize, the
People’s United Party enjoys pre-eminent recognition. It was Belize’s first
nationalist party. It is the most successful political party in Belize’s history
having won over 80% of general elections held since 1957 and 70% of the
municipal elections since Self-Government in 1963. The peaceful, constructive,
Belizean revolution launched by the PUP. and supported by the people gave Belize
nationhood: Independence, the name “Belize”, the flag, the anthem, the Belizean
prayer and a modern constitution.
Only on two occasions has the PUP not
formed the government: 1984-89 and 1993-98.
https://www.pup.org.bz/
PUP website
Oddly enough, the official presentation of the party stops in
2000. The PUP, defeated by the United Democratic Party (UDP), did not form the
government from 2008 to 2020.
According to Article 7 of the party's
Constitution, last revised in 2010, "The colour of the PUP shall be BLUE and
WHITE".
http://www.pup.org.bz/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CONSTITUTION-PUP-1.pdf
PUP Constitution
Photos of the flag:
https://www.pup.org.bz/six-steps-to-make-government-more-accountable2/
https://ambergriscaye.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/printthread/Board/58/main/76170/type/thread.html
https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/caribbean-breaking-news-featured/belize-opposition-party-scores-election-victory-promises-national-unity/
https://www.picfair.com/pics/01812727-inauguration-of-the-new-standard-bearer-for-the-people-s-united-party-pup-at-dangriga-in-belize
https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2011/07/my-take-on-politics-in-san-pedro.html
https://www.sanpedrosun.com/politics-and-government/2015/10/19/candidates-officially-nominated-for-2015-general-elections/
https://www.sanpedrosun.com/politics-and-government/2016/09/17/pup-protests-to-save-belize-now/
https://www.westvision.bz/pup-demands-re-registration-by-july-2017/
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image by Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
Flag of the ruling party
of Belize, the Belize People's United Party , is from <www.udp.org.bz> .Its file
name is flag.jpg so it is probably an actual flag
Dov Gutterman, 7 March 1999
I reckon that the red-white-blue colours of this horizontal
tricolour could stand for (or be derived from) the connections
with Britain. But what would be the significance of the 6 black
discs in the white stripe?
Jorge Candeias, 7 May 1999
The birth of the United Democratic Party on the 27th September, 1973 was the
result of a merger of three parties involved back then in the gargantuan task of
opposing the seemingly unbeatable and powerful People’s United Party – ruling
party of the day. For 23 years before that, the PUP had dominated Belize’s
political scene virtually unopposed.
The opposition consisted of The
Liberal Party, The People’s Development Movement, and The National Independence
Party. This amalgamation was born out of concern that the PUP performance to
date was on its way to consolidate itself as the sole ruling party in Belize.
During this same time in Corozal, a new group was emerging, the Corozal United
Front (CUF). The time was ripe for tangible and active opposition to the
People’s United Party.
It is at this point that a dynamic Reverend by the
name of Gerald Fairweather with visionary initiative organized these rather
ineffective opposition groups and united them into what would become the great
party that is the United Democratic Party.
In 1974, The UDP captured an
amazing 6 out of 18 seats countrywide. With two narrow losses by the UDP in
Belize City and one by the CUF in Corozal, the Opposition had come within 17
votes of forcing a 9-9 tie in the House of Representatives. The PUP was stunned
and Belizeans viewed the elections as a major victory for the Opposition and a
welcoming signal that Democracy was alive.
Another victory followed in
December of that year when the UDP, for the first time, gained control of the
Belize City Council, winning 6 of 9 seats.
By 1977, the UDP had won all 9
seats in the Belize City Council.
The CUF of Corozal also joined up fully
with the UDP, and in the 1979 National Elections, the UDP for the first time
contested all divisions as a single opposition party.
Confidence was high
going into the elections, but hopes were dashed when the PUP, having altered the
entire electoral system, requiring all voters to re-register and obtain new ID
cards, won yet another victory at the national level. With discontent and
disunity inside the party, the UDP lost control of the Belize City Council one
year later, Paul Rodriquez having resigned as Mayor even prior to the loss.
With new leadership and renewed determination, the party re-organized itself
and re-captured the Belize City Council in December of 1983 in landslide
fashion. And as predicted, on the 14th December of 1984, the once invincible PUP
machine came tumbling down, with the UDP scoring a landslide victory in the
national elections by a margin of 21-7. On that day 34 years of PUP rule came to
an end.
The lack of cohesion within the party resulted in a marginal 15-13
defeat in 1989. In 1993, the party’s fate was reversed, which resulted in an
unexpected 16-13 victory over an overconfident PUP.
After a stunning
defeat in 1998, the UDP reorganized once again and made significant gains in the
2003 general elections, retaining the 3 seats won in 1998, regaining 4
additional seats and increasing its overall support from 39% to 46% of the
popular vote.
In 2008, the UDP won those general elections by a massive
margin, capturing 25 out of 31 seats. Tue 2013 elections were not as the UDP had
expected and predicted. Although it formed government it did so with a
disappointing though comfortable margin of 17 to 14. The UDP also retained
control of six municipalities including Belize City where all six councilors
were elected.
https://guardian.bz/
The Guardian, 26 September 2013
The UDP won once again the general elections in 2015, increasing its
majority from 17 to 19 seats. Dean Barrow served as Prime Minister from 2008 to
2020.
In the 2020 general elections, the UDP experienced a severe defeat to
the PUP, 5 to 26.
The flag of the UDP is horizontally divided
red-white-blue with six black discs placed horizontally in the white stripe.
Photos
https://ambergriscaye.com/sanpedrosun/old/09-101.html
https://www.ambergristoday.com/content/stories/2015/november/05/three-peat-udp-government-and-manuel-heredia-jr
https://belize.com/bz-political-parties/
https://guardian.bz/?p=9763
https://www.sanpedrosun.com/politics-and-government/2016/01/30/udp-national-convention-set-for-march-2016/
https://www.sanpedrosun.com/politics-and-government/2020/10/21/nomination-day-pup-and-udp-candidates-officially-nominated-for-upcoming-general-elections/
http://takeurvitaminz.blogspot.com/2008/01/nomination-day-2008-orange-walk.html
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image by Ivan Sache, 6 August 1999
Horizontal red over blue with a black triangle along the
hoist.
Source: Smith (1975), pp. 340-341 ("Symbols in
politics"). Smith says that these are real flags and not
only party emblems, which may differ in colours when used as
emblem or in a flag.
Ivan Sache, 6 August 1999
The UDP was a new party formed by the merger of previous parties, the PDM
included (see history above).
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
image by Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
Vision Inspired by the People (VIP) was established in December 2005. Several
of its members joined the Belize Progressive Party (BPP) in 2015.
In general
elections, VIP obtained 0.73% of the votes in 2008 and 0.30% of the votes in
2012, and could not secure any seat at the Congress. It did not enter the
competition in 2015 and 2020.
The flag of VIP is yellow with the party's
emblem.
Photos
<https://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/65439>
Ivan Sache, 8 April 2021
