Party Leader Panton Poised for Prime Minister

When people write about the history of this moment, the name Tracy Panton will be etched into Belize’s political zeitgeist as the first woman to ever lead a mass political party in the 77 years of the ruling People’s United Party (PUP) and the 52 years of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

At the UDP National Leadership Convention on Sunday, November 30, at Bird’s Isle, before thousands of supporters, delegates, and caretakers, she got the nod from her party. She was uncontested in her bid for party leader after a tumultuous five years of infighting which weakened the very fabric of a strong party that had been 12 years in government (2008–2020).

During her acceptance speech at the Convention, Panton who is the Leader of the Opposition, struck a tone of gratitude and resolve, thanking all the party faithful and Belizeans writ large who made her bid possible. “We have been distracted by internal battles when Belize needed us focused on national service. But here is the truth. Rock bottom is not the tomb. It is, my friends, the turning point. And today, we are at the turning point.” Sunday was not only a turning point for the party but a disruption of the status quo that the old boys’ club perpetuated.

Panton’s slate for both chairman and vice chairman was head and shoulders above the competition — or lack thereof. Attorney Sheena Pitts revelled in her historic victory as the first woman chairman to be elected. She shellacked John Saldivar, former National Security Minister who has fallen out of favour with the party, and Roosevelt Blades, a long-serving party faithful. Pitts garnered 326 votes to Saldivar’s 99 and Blades’ 75. John Castillo, a businessman from Dangriga Town, defeated former Labour Commissioner Ivan Williams handsomely with 300 votes to 183. Also on Panton’s slate were First Deputy Leader Jugo Patt from the north and Miguel Guerra from the west. These two sitting opposition representatives were endorsed.

Woman – Party Leader… What it Means for Belize?

A sampling of Belizeans on the street told me, even before Sunday, that we were onto something… Belize is ready! Even if Panton’s endorsement came 30 years after the country, along with 190 other nations, signed onto the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — the most comprehensive roadmap ever devised to achieve women’s equality with men — it still signals progress. The Beijing Platform features 12 critical areas of concern, and Belize, like many other countries — especially in CARICOM — chose six areas to anchor its work, as reflected in the 2013 Revised National Gender Policy.

While a fair amount of work has been done in several of these six areas, progress has lagged in two that have been rolled over into the new iteration of the National Gender Policy 2024–2030:

1. the elimination of violence against women, and

2. women in decision-making.

Over the decades, government and international partners have invested in programmes and policies to encourage women’s participation in leadership. For example, the very successful Women in Politics (WIP) Project — which yours truly conceptualised and managed as Executive Director of the National Women’s Commission — graduated 100 women, several of whom have gone on to successfully stand for elections. Madam Party Leader Panton is a proud graduate of Cohort 3. Although progress has been made, it has been slow and uneven in politics.

The global model of leadership is male, and in Belize it is even more pronounced. Just look at where we are in nation-building… we can do better, Belize. We must do better. Currently, there are only three women among 28 men elected to Parliament. The picture becomes even starker when broken down by party — the clearest indicator of access to power and resources. Of the three women, two are PUPs. The more senior of the two was, during the Prime Minister’s first Cabinet reshuffle in March, demoted to Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, and the rookie minister was gifted her portfolio — a switcheroo of sorts. And of course, the newly minted UDP Party Leader, Tracy Panton, is the Leader of the Opposition. She loves the Albert Division, and Albert loves her back, electing her three consecutive times to the House of Representatives.

Trends show that the all-male party leaders/prime ministers that Belize has produced tend to view women representatives similarly — even when the women are academically and experientially more capable. The women are consistently appointed as ministers of state rather than full ministers. Former PUP Prime Minister Said Musa began that disturbing trend in 1998 when two women won their seats under the PUP banner. Ana Patricia (Patty) Arceo defeated UDP senior candidate Manuel Heredia Jr. in her first run, and Dolores Balderamos Garcia defeated newcomer Anthony “Boots” Martinez in Port Loyola. Only Balderamos Garcia was appointed a full minister. Arceo was later made Minister of State after Musa took notice of her courage during two hurricanes on the island — Mitch (1998) and Keith (1999).

It happened again in 1993 under the late UDP Prime Minister Sir Manuel Esquivel. Faith Babb defeated the late Remijio Montejo in Collet — a notoriously difficult division — and was appointed minister of state, the lone woman among the men in the House. The Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow followed the same pattern in 2015, appointing both Tracy Panton and Beverly Williams as ministers of state.

In a television interview I conducted with Panton, aired on LOVE Radio and TV (November 3, 2025), she introduced herself as a “competent, capable and compassionate leader.” I reckon that’s precisely the kind of leader Belize needs at the decision-making table — one who understands that when women are treated equally, their ideas are valued, and they are given the opportunity to compete, they excel, often outperforming their male counterparts. Women support family-centred policies and champion programmes that protect and advance humanity.

For these reasons and so many more, Panton’s ascension to party leader is and should be a welcomed change for all women — especially those who have laboured tirelessly within a Women’s Movement that today is literally on life support. The foundational work done in the 1980s and 1990s is finally bearing fruit, even if only 30 years after Beijing.

Caribbean Trends

The very first woman prime minister in the Anglophone Caribbean (CARICOM) was the late Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica. She served from 1980–1995 and was nicknamed the “Iron Lady of the Caribbean” because of her strong leadership and determination. She championed efforts to combat government corruption and tax evasion and supported the US-led invasion of Grenada in 1983.

After Charles retired in 1995, it would be another 11 years before the region saw another woman among the heads of government of CARICOM’s 14 member states. Portia Simpson Miller served as Jamaica’s prime minister for one year (2006–2007) after her party, the PNP, narrowly lost the 2007 general election. She later returned as PM from 2012–2016. While Simpson Miller lost in 2007, Kamla Persad-Bissessar rose to lead Trinidad and Tobago from 2010–2015, marking the first time the region had two women serving as heads of government simultaneously.

Persad-Bissessar is currently serving her second tenure as prime minister. Meanwhile, Barbados PM Mia Amor Mottley is serving her second term and has announced her intention to seek a third. All indications are that Mottley has outperformed her male counterparts in both policy and action and is known as a quick-witted, no-nonsense, rational leader who gets things done. Belize would be in strong company alongside Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago should it make that leap when elections are called. After all, Belize will look to you to change the narrative.

Contributed by: Ann-Marie Williams

Award-winning Journalist & Former Editor of The Reporter Newspaper

Author, Political Women in Red & Blue

Former Deputy Programme Manager Gender & Development, CARICOM Secretariat.