Anthony Michael wasn’t at home and seemed not to be too bothered.
In fact when we spoke to him he was magnanimous.
Anthony Michael, Defeated
“Naturally in politics Jules once you enter the race, you either win
or you lose. A champion shows in terms of defeat how to rebound and how to come
back.”
Jules Vasquez,
Will you tell your supporters to go now and vote for Zenaida Moya in the upcoming
election?
Anthony Michael,
“That is indeed correct. I will do that publicly on television here
Jules for all my supporters, everybody that had come out and supported me. This
was not about Anthony Michael or Zenaida Moya, it is about who could lead. The
people, majority spoke. For that I have to respect that, all my supporters and
everybody I appeal to you to come together now and to unite behind Mayor Moya.
You have to respect the will of the people. The people chose to support Mayor
Moya and I accept that. I congratulate her for the victory, a well fought race.
I thought both of us are capable of leading this city. I think yesterday was
a testament, that mass number, when you and I sat there we said, and you and
I chat privately, the crowd is enormous. Last time it was about 3,700 people
coming out. When I entered the race I did my numbers with my support and I said
I would need about 2600 to 2700 votes and I would be the Mayoral candidate.
2,916 votes and you still lose.”
Jules Vasquez,
You didn’t just lose, you got trounced – 58% to 42% roughly, those
aren’t the final figures. You couldn’t have expected to lose by
so much with ground commander in your corner.
Anthony Michael,
“Well a lot of people were in my corner but again voters decide. You
as standard bearer or leader can only indicate to your people the choice that
you would prefer but that individual has a mind of its own.”
Jules Vasquez,
Do you feel that there was a backlash because of the extremely aggressive attacks
on the fiscal performance of Mayor Moya?
Anthony Michael,
“I don’t feel, the results show that it is.”
Jules Vasquez,
In Freetown, your division, you went down 55% to 45%. In Caribbean Shores it
was a little bit higher than that, the division of Mr. Esquivel. People obviously
had a negative reaction to you in your own backyard.
Anthony Michael,
“I didn’t know I had a division in Freetown. I know I live in
the division and my neighbours and I could tell you came out wholeheartedly
for me.”
Jules Vasquez,
Will you continue in electoral politics or is this enough and you’ll retire?
Anthony Michael,
“Sometimes when you lose the fight, I use to be a sports person and
I lost many football games but at the end of the day you always come out a champion
because you come back and you fought and you work harder. To the nation of Belize,
Anthony Michael will be back. I will not be running at the municipal level but
I will be looking and running at the national level. Sometimes you lose and
people say they don’t know what they’ll do in the future, I don’t
know what I will do. I will be meeting with my party and I will indicate to
the nation publicly that I do have interest in the Freetown division.”
Jules Vasquez,
But again you failed to win Freetown in this. Isn’t that a bad sign?
Anthony Michael,
“Not really, a national race is different from a municipal race Jules.”
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