Next Belizean general election
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All 31 seats in the Belize House of Representatives 16 seats needed for a majority |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
4The next Belizean general election will elect members of the country's House of Representatives. It must be held on or before 13 February 2021.
The prior general election was held on 4 November 2015, and the previous National Assembly opened on 13 November 2015. According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the Governor-General of Belize upon the advice of the prime minister. A general election must be called within three months of a dissolution, which means the latest possible date for the next Belizean general election is 13 February 2021.
Despite the five-year term, three of the last four general elections have been called at least a year early. Both Prime Minister Dean Barrow and the opposition People's United Party are on record supporting lowering the maximum term of the National Assembly to four years.
Barrow has stated his intention to retire as prime minister and UDP leader no later than the end of 2019, strongly hinting at a snap election in late 2019 or early 2020.
The ruling United Democratic Party, which has been in power since 2008, will attempt to win a fourth consecutive general election. However, both major parties are likely to contest this election with first-time leaders. UDP leader and Prime Minister Dean Barrow has stated he will step down from both posts in the months leading up to the election to make way for a new leader. Patrick Faber, who was elevated to UDP deputy leader and Deputy Prime Minister in 2016, is considered Barrow's likely successor.
Despite gains in Belize City in 2015, most notably Kareem Musa's upset win over Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley in the Caribbean Shores constituency, the opposition PUP remained at 11 seats overall thanks to losses in the Cayo and Corozal Districts. The PUP is expected to run with Leader of the Opposition Johnny Briceño as its leader. Francis Fonseca, who led the party during the past two general elections, resigned from leadership soon after the party's 2015 loss. Although Briceño served a previous term as PUP leader from 2008 to 2011, he has yet to lead the party during a general election. Briceño, who represents a constituency in Orange Walk Town, would be the first PUP member to lead the party in an election who is not from Belize City.
...
Wikipedia