The Lake Independence constituency - most observers agree that it's a wide open race to see who will claim it in the March 7th election after the incumbent Cordel Hyde stepped down last week.
UDP Aspirant Mark King was considered the underdog against Hyde, but now that he's not running, King has got to be considered at least neck and neck with the new PUP candidate, Yolanda Schackron.
Neck and neck because Schackron inherits most of the Cordel Hyde Committee, and ultimately its they who hold the keys to a constituency that has historically voted PUP.
So all Shackron has to do is maintain - which is not an easy job in one of the poorest and largest divisions in the country. We caught up with her today on her first day on the campaign trail:..
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"It's going good. I must be thankful to the people of Lake I; they are receptive. They have opened up their homes to me. The cry is for jobs; they said their lives have not improved within the last 4 years."
Jules Vasquez
"There is a new standard bearer for the PUP Ms. Yolanda Schackron. She is on the ground right now. She is on Flamboyant Street."
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Sure Jules, she has the right to campaign like all candidates will do for the general elections."
Jules Vasquez
"Do you feel that your prospects have improved with the stepping down of Cordel Hyde or do you think it has worsened now that a vibrant young candidate has entered and she is working on the ground?"
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"The people of Lake I will decide which candidates are best for them, and they will decide which candidate brings the best plan."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"It's a very smooth transition. We have a very good campaign team. We have already hit the ground. We are setting up. Today I should have my office ready and set to go."
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"To my best indicators, some of that committee have approached me to work with me because they did not like the fact that Mr. Diaz wasn't selected as the one that they so rightly on the air cheered for. At the end of the day, it's not what you hear on the news but what you know."
Jules Vasquez
"What do you think is your greatest comparative advantage when compared to your opponent?"
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"My comparative advantage has been nothing but my work that I have put in in Lake I as a standard bearer - not as an elected minister but as a standard bearer for the last 10 months. I have been fixing drains, streets and just showing people how much I really want to help them in Lake I, and at the end of the day I believe my work will show for itself on Election Day."
Jules Vasquez
"What is the area that you choose to focus on in this time to maximize the limited time you have on the ground?"
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Jules, I know I won't be able to visit every home, but I am going to be working from the morning to night. I am going to be hitting the ground 7 days a week, and I will try to get to everyone."
Jules Vasquez
"Did you feel any sense of joy or relief when Cordel Hyde announced that he was stepping down in so far as he is the incumbent? He has never been beaten in that area, and even in 2008 he won by a satisfactory comfortable margin."
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Jules, 101 in politics - we don't feel joy when anyone step down. When we feel joy is when the last ballot is counted on Election Day and you hear your name coming out victorious. That's when you can actually feel victorious. By somebody stepping down, no. I am still continuing as if though the PUP still had a strong candidate in there, and we will continue to work until Election Day."
Jules Vasquez
"Who do you think is easier for you to win over: Cordel Hyde or Yolanda Schackron?"
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"To be honest with you, anyone that came I think I would have still been able to beat two of them."
Jules Vasquez
"What has been the reception that the voters have given you here on Flamboyant Street? I know this is a PIV area."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Very good, I am so positive. I am overwhelmed; I feel very good. I am ready. I know I will be victorious. I have nothing negative to say about Mark King. He is my opponent, but I know at the end of the day this will be returned to the People's United Party. It will continue to be a PUP stronghold."
Jules Vasquez
"The PUP chooses you over Mr. Diaz as a candidate. He was interested; some committee members were interested. They chose you because you bring your own money. Ms. Yolanda, they say, is a woman with some financial resources."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Who is saying that Jules?"
Jules Vasquez
"That's the talking around the PUP."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"I have no idea what the talking is. I don't engage in rumors and gossip. I am out here to represent the people."
Jules Vasquez
"The fact is, to run a successful campaign you need a little bit of "chedder" to spread around."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Maybe Dean Barrow should give me some of what he is giving his area representatives - which he is taking away from BTL. Who gave him the authority to do that?"
Jules Vasquez
"Are you intimidated or concerned that she may be a well moneyed opponent?"
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"Jules, I think the people of Lake I in respect to the PUP themselves stating that they don't have money for this election. This is not about a money election any at all. So if the people are going into Lake I to try to win the election with money - I don't bring that concept. Whilst I have my own campaign finances and financiers, I bring something greater to the people of Lake I in terms of looking after their families and their infrastructure and so forth."
Jules Vasquez
"Your old friend Oscar Rosado had told me months ago Yolanda is just using Belizeans for Justice as a springboard into politics. Looks like he was right."
Yolanda Schackron, PUP Lake I Standard Bearer
"He was not right. Oscar and I are very best friends, and I was not using that. I saw the need to step in and represent the people of Lake I. I have worked with this area. I see the poverty; I see the unemployment, and I am ready to change the lives of these people."
Jules Vasquez
"Do you think that there is a greater pool of on the fence voters now because people wanted to vote for Cordel - not necessarily PUP - and him not being there, those voters are now free agents?"
Mark King, UDP Lake I Standard Bearer
"I would say so. Those voters are there because they would have to choose a candidate from the UDP or the PUP, as previously stated by one of the newscasts. However, like I said, at the end of the day, they will determine who presents the best plans for them. Who has been working for them, and who will want to be there for them to look after them and their community."
In an important side-note, former PUP Representative in the area, Carlos Diaz, today confirmed to us that he will not run as an independent.
Diaz had been suggested as a candidate after Hyde stepped down, but it seemed the PUP hierarchy wanted to go with a younger candidate.
Diaz briefly flirted with running as an independent, but told us he decided not to, because he will split the PUP vote and hurt the party's candidate.
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