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And that committee wasn't giving way - briefly they even suggested one of their own Steven Heusner as a prospective candidate. But the news tonight is that the dust of dissent seems to have settled and we know that because today we were called to the UDP Caribbean Shores Headquarters where Singh and Perdomo were ready to hold hands with their new endorsee, Chandra Nisbet-Cansino and sing a Cari Shores Kumbaya. Here's how it sounded:..

Mike Singh
"Today I am formally announcing that I have decided to withdraw my bid to be nominated as the standard bearer for the UDP in the Caribbean Shores division and to pledge all my effort behind Mrs. Chandra Cansino to ensure that she becomes the next UDP candidate for Caribbean Shores."

"My reason for this decision is very simple, I believe that it is time for our party to break from the status quo and that we build an inclusive team of representatives and in particular that we ensure that the women of Belize who represent the backbone our our society are fully represented."

Hon. Carlos Perdomo
"You heard Mike, needless to say after he decided to withdraw our carburetors here at his office started to squatter a little bit but after a day or two we gathered our troops together and we started to meet with Chandra and the people that she has working with her. Chandra exhibits the qualities that we prefer of being honest. Coming from a career of nursing that looks after people. We believe that that will make her a wonderful socially incline person. Now that we have clean up the carburetor, the Caribbean Shores Committee is back on track and I can assure you that we will keep our record of winning which we have done in the last few years."

"I proudly stand here understanding what Mike went through and understanding the little minor earth quake that his withdrawal cause. We are proudly to support Chandra and our committee."

Chandra Nisbet-Cansino
"It wasn't easy getting the confidence of the committee behind me. It something that I had to work for and I am still working for because it's a group of people that really wanted to know. I mean I was interrogated like the FBI on my commitment and what I had to offer and my dedication and it's based on those; my responses to them and meetings and conversations late in the night that we came to a decision to move forward together."

"So it really wasn't a power play as some of the media houses are portraying it to be. It was honestly about reviewing what we had all put out and deciding what would be the best way forward."

Mike Singh
"I've known Chandra a long time and there is one thing I do know about her is that she is genuine, her goal has never been to become a millionaire on any kind. Her goal has always been to "go serve.""

So now, with 26 days to go to the convention, the contours of the convention race are becoming clearer. Nisbet-Cansino has the backing of Perdomo, Singh, the Caribbean Shores Committee and the Prime Minister's Wife.

Santino Castillo has the backing of former convention candidate Roger Espejo and Mesop Representative Michael Finnegan. Ann-Marie Williams has no big name backing - which, we gather, is just the way she wants it. We plan to visit with the candidates on the campaign trail in the weeks to come.