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POLITICAL: Opposition Leader Moses “Shain” Barrow held a press conference this morning to address his party’s defeat in the Toledo East by-election. United Democratic Party candidate Dennis Williams lost to the PUP by more than two thousand votes despite weeks of campaigning. Barrow projected confidence throughout the election but left the counting station in Punta Gorda before all the votes were counted. Today, he spoke about the results and what they mean for the opposition.
Opposition Leader Moses “Shain” Barrow: “This is not the result we had hoped for, but I thank the candidates and their teams for their heroic efforts. I congratulate Osmond Martínez and his team. They did what they had to do and the people decided that Mr. Martínez would represent them in the House of Representatives. It is my duty as the leader of this great United Democratic Party to show confidence. It is my duty to fight for every seat. There is not a seat where I can simply say, you know, we will lie down. Of course, there are many factors that led to the path to victory. But in politics, what you see and what you get are not always the same. But the fact is that there are divisions, and we all know that there are divisions within the People’s United Party, which are divided into three parties. The Galvez faction that wanted him to be the regional representative, and the Melem Esparte faction, which is completely devastated by the loss of the assembly, just like Elvi Vega is now furious on Facebook saying that she was abandoned. So these divisions are real. We hope to see cooperation and that these forces can bear fruit, just like the municipal elections, because the results of the municipal elections were not like that. We actually won the first recount for mayor and then lost it by 20 votes. So, you know, it’s different candidates and we can’t ignore the fact that you have a government with millions of dollars of resources.”
Barrow went on to talk about the lessons he learned from the election results and why he thought voters supported the PUP.
Opposition Leader Moses “Shain” Barrow: “They offered the people what they wanted on the day of the election, made a convincing argument and the people accepted it. We can’t compare with that type of funding. But we did what we had to do, at least gave the people a chance to consider our presentation. But you know, politics is about timing. We are the opposition. You know, when Prime Minister Briceño speaks big words now, he forgets that he has to resign. You know, Dean Barrow was so upset with him, his own party was so upset with him that he resigned before the 2012 elections and if he had stayed in office, he would have probably been the next prime minister. Right? So politics teaches you timing, it teaches you resilience, you have to stay the course, but it also teaches you humility. It also teaches you that you can’t take the vote for granted. You can’t take the people for granted. You have to work every day, and this is local. You can’t listen to these propagandists and outright liars who want to deflect, blame and focus on anything other than East Toledo. The people of East Toledo, when they vote, they think about what is best for them. They obviously thought it was a PUP government, and the current district representative, Brother Martinez, says they’re not getting the help they need, but people apparently think change is coming with him because Mike Espart is gone, so maybe Mike Espart isn’t doing everything he should be doing. I’m not saying that, I’m just telling you that’s the argument. So now with Martinez, that’s a change. So instead of turning to the UDP, which is not the government, maybe Martinez will get us somewhere.”
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