Ahead of the People’s United Party (PUP) upcoming Belize City municipal convention, Caribbean Shores Area Representative Kareem Musa has announced he will remain neutral in the race for the party’s mayoral nomination, framing his non-endorsement stance as a commitment to upholding the democratic spirit of the internal selection process.
Two contenders, Allan Pollard and Eluide Miller, are currently competing to secure the PUP mayoral candidacy ahead of the nationwide municipal elections scheduled for March 2026. While Musa has already publicly thrown his full support behind Kirkland Smith, a career educator from the Caribbean Shores district running for a different position, he says he will not pressure convention delegates to pick one mayoral candidate over the other.
In comments to reporters, Musa emphasized that delegates deserve the autonomy to cast their votes independently, without influence from sitting elected officials. He acknowledged that both Pollard and Miller represent standout young talent within the PUP, pointing to their existing accomplishments in early political careers as proof of their value to the party.
“We in Caribbean Shores will leave it up to the delegates,” Musa said. “This is a democratic process and I will not impress on the delegates, any of them, on who I think that they should vote for.”
Musa, who considers himself a senior member of the PUP, outlined his two core priorities moving forward regardless of the convention’s outcome. Once a winner is selected, he will commit all his efforts to helping the nominee secure victory in the general municipal election to become Belize City’s next mayor. For the candidate who falls short in the nomination race, Musa says he will work to lift up and encourage them, noting that even unsuccessful contenders have significant contributions to make to the party and Belizean politics long into the future.
This report is adapted from a transcribed broadcast evening newscast, originally published ahead of the 2026 municipal nomination cycle.