So, it's an enormous outlay of party funds and organizational resources for what would have to be considered the political pre-season; municipals are, after all, months away - and any momentum gathered here will have long faded by the time those roll around.
But, as we said at the top of the story, for the UDP, the crowd which stood, and sang, and danced and honked horns were unleashed as a strategic maneuver: to bolster the Barrow Administration in its embrace of the Petrocaribe money as an article of faith, and to intimidate the PUP leadership - which has proven unable to roll out that kind of a crowd since 2010.
But in the House Chamber - the roar of the crowd was only a faraway din - and on the House floor, the PUP went shoulder to shoulder with their UDP colleagues - even employing the UDP slogan of "roll It" - here's the exchange on that:..
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"We are back now for the final authorization. We are back now for the formal passage. We are back now to do what the thousands of Belizeans outside this National Assembly building, what the hundreds of thousands of Belizeans across this land want us to do. We are back to say once and for all, we are back to sing and shout, Petrocaribe roll it!"
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"We say to him and the Belizean people are saying to him; if you think sir that you have the support of the Belizean people, there is only one thing for you to do, call the general elections and the people will deal with you. The people are ready for you. The people are ready for change. So, let's get it on, you are talking about Petrocaribe roll. Election roll - roll the election. That is what you need to do - roll the election and the people will roll you and the UDP out of Belmopan."
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