Attorney Darrell Bradley is gearing up to make his return to electoral politics, with an aim to throw his hat in the race to become Leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), if a recall petition to unseat the Hon. Patrick Faber is successful over the next couple of weeks.
Earlier this week Bradley’s name and that of the former attorney general, Michael Peyrefitte, were thrown out as a potential candidates for the new post. In an exclusive interview with the Reporter on Thursday, Bradley commented, “I am definitely interested in the post, I just don’t know, necessarily what that would mean because I am not a part of whatever has gone on.”
Bradley added, “It [the moves to remove Hon. Faber] actually caught me by surprise when I found out about all the different changes in the party. Now that that has happened, people have been texting me and asking me to take up the leadership post and, of course, I am interested.”
The former Belize City mayor told us that while he has stepped back from political life for a while, he has always remained in contact with his colleagues from within the United Democratic Party (UDP), and over the years he has always expressed his interest in running for higher political office and so most naturally he was contacted as a potential candidate.
Bradley, however, reminded that the recall motion to unseat Faber is still in discussion, and if the recall is successful or if Faber does not step aside willingly, then the UDP would be mandated to call a convention in 90 days. In the interim, Faber still remains at the Party Leader and his future at the helm of the UDP will depend on whether he will send in his resignation or if he will proceed to the polls where his fate will be decided.
But even as Bradley is gearing up for the challenge, he has a lot of work cut out for him because unlike Peyreffite who is already a Senator, therefore, a member of Parliament, Bradley—a previous President of the Upper House—is currently not qualified.
“The UDP constitution does say that the Leader of the Party has to be a member of parliament, so you either have to be a member of the House of Representative or the Senate and the only way that I would be able to come into the race is through the Senate, because I am not a member of the House of Representative,” Bradley admitted.
When we asked Bradley for a comment on the recall petition to unseat Faber as Leader of the UDP, he told us that he would like to refrain from commenting on that matter. What he did say is that the UDP has allowed too many side stories and arguments to distract them. While he explained that he does not necessarily support the recall, he is of the opinion that the UDP needs to do things differently and elect somebody who would not only be able to energize the party but who can unite the different factions of the party, in an effort to win an election.
“The UDP needs somebody that is not contentious. We have too much fighting and so forth; we would need somebody who is not necessarily involved in whatever is embroiling, among the different personalities in the party, but somebody that would be able to bring a fresh perspective and somebody who can be an organizer and who can look forward with a vision. I am very familiar with public relations and politics; I have good contacts with various members of society such as the churches and the unions, and so I think that I naturally have that personality of bringing people together, and I think that at the juncture, that is what the UDP needs.”
Bradley stepped down from his Mayoral post in February 2018, following two consecutive terms of Leadership at the Belize City Council. Back then he had announced that he was taking a break from politics for personal reasons but would be returning for higher office.
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