BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) – Belize’s ruling People’s United Party (PUP) won Wednesday’s general election that Prime Minister John Briceño called nine months before the constitutional deadline.

According to the preliminary results, the PUP won 26 of the 31 seats in the Parliament with the remaining five seats going to the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), whose leader, Moses “Shyne” Barrow was among the unsuccessful candidates.

The UDP had contested the elections with two factions, and Barrow failed to hold on to the Mesopotamia constituency which was won by Lee Mark Chang of the Alliance for Democracy, a UDP faction.

Prime Minister Briceño, who comfortably won the Orange Walk Central seat for an eighth term, told reporters that he was elated by his own victory.

“I make this solemn promise to them that I will never betray them, that I will continue to work for them as best as I can, every single day because I’ve always said it’s a privilege and an honour to be prime minister, but I am beholden to the people of Orange Walk Central because without them I cannot be where I am,” he said to applause.

In the last general elections held on November 11, 2020, the then opposition PUP achieved its first national election victory since 2003, winning 26 seats, while the then-incumbent UDP suffered its worst result since 1998, winning the remaining five seats.