1 week ago
5
With the deadline for applications for aspiring municipal leaders being tomorrow, PUP Chairman Henry Charles Usher says the decision on who should lead the party into the 2027 municipal elections should ultimately be left to the delegates. Usher’s comments come after both Belize City Councilor Allan Pollard Jr. and Deputy Mayor Eluide Miller formally submitted applications to contest the party’s mayoral nomination. The application deadline is set for Friday, June 19, with a delegate convention expected to be held in August. Speaking to reporters, Usher was asked whether Miller, who has faced questions from some party supporters over his candidacy, should be encouraged to step aside in favor of Pollard. The PUP Chairman rejected that notion, stating that both men have a democratic right to seek the nomination and that the party’s delegates should determine the outcome.
Henry Charles Usher, PUP Chairman: “I think that you are trying to ask or get involved in an issue that is an internal party matter and first of all the People’s United Party is a Democratic Party. We make sure that whoever wants to challenge does have an opportunity to challenge. Every person who is elected either at the national level or the municipal level can be challenged. I am sure as Mr.Pollard and as Mr.Miller have both said they are ready for this convention so let us to go the convention and I don’t know where this question is particularly coming from but certainly I think that the national executive, the national campaign committee are the ones that will set the procedures for the convention and we go forward from there.”
Reporter: So the party was not being democratic when it asked Pollard not to challenge Usher, Gilroy Usher.
Henry Charles Usher, PUP Chairman: “At that particular time Mr.Pollard met with the vetting committee and a decision was made.”
Usher noted that both applicants have now officially entered the race and are expected to present their vision for Belize City to party delegates in the weeks ahead. He emphasized that the PUP has an established process for selecting candidates and said the party remains committed to allowing that process to unfold. The contest has already generated considerable interest within party circles. Last week, Miller submitted his application alongside several members of the current Belize City Council, while Pollard formally entered the race yesterday. The winner of the upcoming convention will become the PUP’s mayoral candidate and will lead the party’s municipal slate into the March 2027 elections.
English (US) ·