BELIZE CITY – A symbolic display of solidarity during the Sixteen Days of Activism against gender-based violence erupted into a tense political confrontation in Belize’s Parliament on December 12, 2025, as Prime Minister John Briceno’s administration donned vibrant orange guayaberas to mark the occasion.
The carefully orchestrated demonstration of support for anti-violence initiatives quickly devolved into acrimonious exchange when Prime Minister Briceno drew a direct comparison between his government’s orange attire and the opposition UDP party’s controversial ‘Who Thief Budna’ t-shirts. The Prime Minister’s remarks immediately ignited a fiery debate across the parliamentary aisle.
‘We will have our honorable Minister of Human Development make a statement,’ Briceno stated before launching his critique. ‘But I want to make a big difference between the opposition and our side. The opposition comes with t-shirts defending a criminal, defending a child predator wanted by Interpol.’
The comparison prompted an immediate response from Opposition Leader Tracy Panton, who raised a point of order challenging the Prime Minister’s characterization. ‘The point of order is that he is attributing some kind of clandestine motive to the opposition when he well knows that is not the intention,’ Panton asserted. ‘The intention of the opposition is to ensure justice for all Belizeans.’
Prime Minister Briceno maintained his position, declaring, ‘I am not insinuating anything – it is just a fact. Here we come standing up for gender-based violence for the sixteen days of activism, and you can see a big difference.’
The exchange grew increasingly tense as Panton challenged the Prime Minister’s authority, asking, ‘When did you become judge, jury and executioner? Again the prime minister insists on suggesting that we were here with improper motives, and that is not acceptable, Madam Speaker.’
The parliamentary session highlighted how even symbolic gestures in Belize’s political landscape can quickly become flashpoints for deeper political divisions and unresolved tensions between the governing and opposition parties.