2012 Belizean general election

Belizean general and local elections, 2012

March 7, 2012 (2012-03-07)
All 31 assembly constituencies
Majority party Minority party   Leader Dean Barrow Francis Fonseca Party UDP PUP Seats before 25 6 Seats won 17 14 Seat change 8 8
Prime Minister before election Dean Barrow United Democratic Party (Belize) Elected Prime Minister Dean Barrow United Democratic Party (Belize)

General and local elections was held simultaneously in Belize on 7 March, 2012 to elect 31 MPs. The election is run by the Elections and Boundaries Commission's Elections and Boundaries Department. The government of Dean Barrow and his UDP was re-elected, but lost eight seats to the opposition.

Parties

Prime Minister Dean Barrow's United Democratic Party is the incumbent in the election with his party holding 25 seats. The opposition People's United Party, led by Francis Fonseca since late 2011, holds the other seats in parliament. An unrepresented coalition of smaller paries are running in nine consituencies under the banner of the Belize Unity Alliance.

Campaign

The UDP's primary campaign promise was to renegotiate the terms of US$550 million bond repayment, which Barrow said would be his first task if re-elected. The bond accounts for 40% of Belize's economic output and half of Belize's debt, which is the 13th most indebted state in the world. The interest on the debt is also scheduled to cost US$46 million in the year, which is 12% of its revenues, amidst of the effects to raise future funds after credit rating agencies downgraded the sovereign credit status to "junk." Converserly, Fonseca said that he would abide by the obligations to pay of the debt with promises to grow the country's current US$1.25 economy.

Another campaign theme was the issue of oil drilling off the coast of the country withing proximity of the Belize Barrier Reef since Belize started exporting oil in 2006, thugh opinion polls opposition to further oil exploration. Barrow promised to hold a referendum on the issue, while Fonseca pledged a moratorium over continued exploration.

The Belize Unity Alliance were also actively campaigned with such locales as San Pedro, the biggest town on Ambergris Caye, off the Belizean coast, supporting independent candidates and calling for votes for the party.

Unofficial referendum

On 29 February, Oceana, a member of the Belize Coalition to Save Our National Heritage, held an informal that they called the "People's Referendum" with 51 polling stations, including two mobile polling stations, manned by volunteers over the issue of oil drilling. A previous attempt to hold the referendum alongside the election was rejected after 40% of the petitioned signatures were disqualified to double signatories and mismatched names with the official voter rolls. The voter turnout was 28,000. The group's vice president Audrey Matura-Shepherd said that the referendum sought to use "the law to force the government to hear the people."

Opinion polls

Opinion polls suggested a tight race with many undecided voters.

A poll conducted on 17 February, the day of nominations for running in the election, by former politician Derek Aikman, showed that the UDP held a majority of 16 seats and the PUP leading in nine seats, including Orange Walk Central, which they had won in the last poll; Fort George, Pickstock, Belize Rural South, Corozal Southeast, Corozal Bay, Cayo North, Cayo West, and Orange Walk North. The UDP's led in Queen’s Square, Port Loyola, Caribbean Shores, Mesopotamia, Collet, Lake Independence, Corozal North, Belmopan, Cayo Northeast, Cayo Central, and Orange Walk South. The other seats that could play the role of kingmaker included Albert, Freetown, Belize Rural North and Central, Dangriga and Stann Creek West, Toledo East and West, Corozal Southwest, Cayo South and Orange Walk East.

Another poll by Aikman on 2 March showed a large lead for the UDP, though many voters were willing to support PUP. The poll comprised of 8,847 voters, or 4.97%. The UDP's 15% lead in the nominattion day poll fell to a 4% gap with a lead of 30% to 26% on 2 Match. The BUA also recorded 1% support in the Belize Rural South and Belmopan. Undecided voters were at 43%.

Monitors

An Organization of American States monitoring groups would observe the poll. The team is led by the former US Ambassador to Honduras Frank Almaguer; the team also comprises of observers from Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Martinique, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela. The Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission would be present in all six departments.

Election

The total number of eligible votes is 178,054 out of a population of just over 300,000. There were 74 total candidates and 320 polling stations. For the simultaneous local elections, 97,979 of the had the choice to choose from 170 candidates at 168 of the polling stations.

Results

In a narrow race the ruling United Democratic Party won seventeen out of the thirty-one available seats to win re-election while the opposition People's United Party won fourteen.