| Parliament name |
National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name |
House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
7 February 2008 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives following premature dissolution of this body on 7 January 2008. Elections to the House of Representatives had previously taken place on 5 March 2003. |
On 7 January 2008
Prime Minister Said Musa asked Governor-General Sir Colville Young to dissolve the parliament
paving the way for the elections to the House of Representatives to be held on 7 February. They were held at the same time as the first-ever referendum in the country
on whether the members of the Senate
currently appointed by the Governor-General
should be directly elected.
In the previous elections held in March 2003
Prime Minister Musa's People's United Party (PUP) had won 22 of the 29 seats at stake
becoming the first party ever to win a second consecutive term in office since the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. The opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) had taken the remainder.
However
Prime Minister Musa's second term was marred by several incidents. In 2005
the introduction of higher taxes intended to repay the country's US$ 3 billion foreign debt triggered riots. The UDP also alleged that Prime Minister Musa had distributed US$ 10 million
received as aid from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
to PUP supporters.
At stake in the 2008 elections were 31 seats in the enlarged House of Representatives. In all
93 candidates
including three women
contested the elections. Although three other political parties - the National Reform Party (NRP)
the Vision Inspired by the People (VIP)
and the National Belizean Alliance (NBA) - also ran
the elections saw once again a duel between the PUP and the UDP
each of which fielded candidates for all the 31 parliamentary seats. The NPR and the NBA had 11 candidates each
while the VIP had four. In addition
there were five independent candidates.
In mid-January
the PUP presented its manifesto entitled "Blueprint - Believe in Belize". It promised to cut income tax
create new jobs
fight crime
and provide a laptop PC for every school child. It also presented a detailed proposal for a new 14-member Senate that would be elected using the proportional representation system
starting from 2009.
The UDP leader
Mr. Dean Oliver Barrow
firmly opposed the idea of an elected Senate and called for a boycott of the referendum. He nevertheless agreed on the need to reform the Senate
insisting that one additional non-partisan senator should be appointed so as to give a combined majority to the members appointed on the advice of the opposition and non-partisan members.
The UDP's "21 pledges" focused on lowering the cost of living through various measures
including lower sales tax and electricity and telephone rates. It accused the PUP of corruption and mismanagement.
A total of 74.49 per cent of the 156
000 registered voters cast their ballot in the elections. However
only 46.63 per cent voted in the referendum
of which 61.54 per cent supported an elected Senate
while 36.60 per cent did not.
The final results gave 25 seats to the UDP
with over 56 per cent of the valid votes. Although the PUP won over 40 per cent of the valid votes
it obtained only six seats. None of the other parties secured more than eight per cent of the votes. No women were elected.
On 8 February
Mr. Barrow was sworn in as the new Prime Minister.
On 15 February
he appointed Mr. Emil Arguelles
an attorney-at-law
as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On 14 March
the newly elected members of the House of Representatives were sworn in alongside the appointed senators
who included the new Senate President
Ms. Andrea Gill. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 7 February 2008 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
156'993
116'943 (74.49%)
749
116'194 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| United Democratic Party (UDP) |
|
66'203 |
|
|
56.61 |
|
|
| People's United Party (PUP) |
|
47'624 |
|
|
40.72 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| United Democratic Party (UDP) |
25
|
|
|
|
|
| People's United Party (PUP) |
6
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
31
0
0.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- National Assembly (04.03.2008)
- http://www.belize-elections.org/ |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
