The Blue Machine

For PUP supporters last Tuesday’s Press Conference was what most had been waiting for, a coming together of everyone to tackle the issues facing this troubled nation.  As well it was a time when the Party could show the real contrast between the two major political parties in Belize.  That contrast is a PUP loaded with talented people, offering real solutions to problems as opposed to the UDP, who are so devoid of talent that only the Party Leader dare speak.
For those in the UDP, the response to the PUP Press conference created more than a murmur, judging from the reactions from some of their spin doctors. The PUP Press Conference created a scramble among those in the Party’s leadership.    Since Tuesday the UDP talking heads have been launching verbal attacks which lack any merit or cohesion.  Their responses are typical of the brutish behaviour often displayed by their leader, who when asked to respond to any issue, national or political, always launches an attack on personalities instead of addressing the situation in an objective manner.
Belizeans will recall when pressed by the media about the problems in the Ministry of National Security and crime, the Prime Minister blamed corrupt police officers.  When asked about the problems with the poor conditions of city streets, he responds that drivers should figure out which streets to drive on.  When asked about the nation’s economy, he blames the global economy.  When asked about how much money his ex wife Lois is making at BTL, he says it is less than what was being paid out before.  There is never a straight answer from this Prime Minister.  We are now seeing this kind of behaviour even in “Boots” Martinez, who in responding to concerns raised by a Belize City resident accused the woman of being a liar.  Instead of offering some solution to the situation, the instinctive response was to attack the individual.
What happened at Independence Hall last Tuesday was the total opposite of what Belizeans have been hearing for the past two years—excuses–or what the nation is subjected to at any UDP Press Conferences where the Prime Minister, the lone speaker, gets up and blames everyone and everything for his administration’s failure to deliver on their promises.
Instead of a one man show Belizeans saw the leader of the PUP step out and together with his members of his executive identify the problems facing the nation, offer recommendations, and express their willingness to help.  Never before has any opposition in Belize made so many overtures to work with or help rescue a government which seems to be headed for disaster.   One would think if the Prime Minister really cares about the good of the nation, he ought to give this offer serious consideration; after all, the number of incompetent ministers he has sitting around him in his Cabinet must give no ease to his aches and pains.

Tuesday’s press conference had to have been a crushing moment for the UDP, which has been trying desperately to peddle this idea of a quiet and wounded opposition. Judging from the reaction coming from the “foothills of the BelChina Bridge though, they may very well be asking themselves if it was at all wise to awaken the Blue Machine.  For sure this will be their worst nightmare.

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