General elections were held in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

on 27 August 1998.Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p104 The result was a victory for the

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

, which won 26 of the 29 seats and

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo D ...

was elected as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

for the first time.Unofficial election results of twenty-nine constituencies
Channel 5 Belize, August 28, 1998. (accessed 5 October 2014) Voter turnout was 90.1%, the highest since independence.

Background

The ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) was widely perceived as incompetent, incapable of governing and riddled with

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. Crime and unemployment rose while a number of government projects were universally panned. After winning nationwide municipal elections in 1994, they had lost two other municipal votes in 1996 and 1997. The PUP capitalized on the people's anger to present a manifesto of far-reaching proposals which they claimed would "Set Belize Free". Prime Minister

Manuel Esquivel Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was ...

advised Governor General Sir

Colville Young Sir Colville Norbert Young (born 20 November 1932) is a Belizeans, Belizean politician who served as the 2nd Governor-General of Belize. He is also a patron of the Scouting, Scout Association of Belize. He was appointed as the Governor-General ...

to dissolve the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

on 13 July 1998. The House stood dissolved with effect from 15 July 1998. Election day was set for 27 August 1998. Nomination day was 11 August 1998; five political parties nominated 79 candidates, with three independents contesting. The radio station LOVE FM held the first Prime Ministerial debate in Belize on 23 July 1998; it was attended by PM Esquivel and PUP leader Musa. Another debate would not be held until the 2020 election. One controversy as the election date drew near was Attorney General

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...

's rushed appointment of Manuel Sosa to the position of Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 19 August to replace the ailing George Singh, just days before the election. Then-opposition leader

objected to this last minute appointment, and after his party took power was able to have it overturned on the grounds that he had not been properly consulted on the appointment as required by the constitution. The

National Alliance for Belizean Rights The National Alliance for Belizean Rights (NABR), formed as the Patriotic Alliance for Territorial Integrity, was a political party in Belize in the 1990s. The party colour was forest green.

, which had run in coalition with the UDP in the previous election, chose to run on its own despite its sole member in the House,

Philip Goldson Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson (25 July 1923 – 3 October 2001) was a Belizean newspaper editor, activist and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Belize as member for the Albert constituency from 1965 to 1998 and twice a ...

, standing down. The party failed to win any seats and was not a factor in the election.

Results

The PUP won 26 of a possible 29 seats, the most lopsided general election win since independence. Several high-ranking UDP members went down to defeat, most notably Esquivel himself in

Caribbean Shores Caribbean Shores is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Kareem Musa of the People's United Party. Profile The Caribbean Shores constituenc ...

. Only Barrow in Queen's Square and Michael Finnegan in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

retained their seats for the UDP, while

Erwin Contreras Erwin Rafael "Winchi" Contreras (born 9 July 1966)

narrowly defeated the PUP's

Amin Hegar Amin may refer to: People * Amin (name), a masculine given name and also a surname * Al-Amin, the sixth Abbasid caliph, who ruled from 809 to 813 * Amin (Qing dynasty), an Imperial Prince of the Qing Dynasty * Amin, an arbitrator who assessed an ...

Cayo West Cayo West is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Jorge Espat of the People's United Party (PUP). Profile The Cayo West constituency was one o ...

for the UDP's third seat.General Elections 1998
, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014) Barrow became UDP leader shortly after the election.

References

{{Belizean elections

Legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

General elections in Belize