And with all this criticism of the party they still call home do Espat and Hyde still have any place in the PUP? Well they played on that one: saying it's not their decision.
Cordel Hyde,
"Well I can't enter their minds and hearts. But what I am saying is that I am not resigning from the People's United Party. I am not resigning my seat in the House of Representatives. I serve at the pleasure of the people of Lake Independence; as long as they want me there, I will be there. Because the seat is not mine or is not for the People's United Party, the seat is for the people of Lake Independence so I will be there for as long as they want me there. No as I said I can't enter the hearts and minds of the people in my party but I'm not resigning from my party."
Adele Ramos, AMANDALA Newspaper
"You and Mr. Espat finally had this stroke of confidence, why didn't you do this long ago? Why is it you sat there for so many years, supporting the budget, supporting the government, and now all of a sudden you are against what's being proposed? How do you respond to that?"
Cordel Hyde,
"Adele you don't get there overnight. You don't just enter the Cabinet and in within a month or within two months or even a year you are willing to walk away. I think it was once said that you don't really have power until you are prepared to walk away from it. It took me 6 years to get to that point. We in the past tried to speak individually at all different times within all mechanisms of the party and the government but after a while instead of just knocking on the door quietly and hoping that they open the door, after doing that enough times you realize you have to break down the door to get in and you have to scream for them to listen to you. And so that is the point we reached in August. It took us a while to get there but I think we are only human."
As regards the constitutional amendment which disallows crossing of the floor, it has not ever been tested and it is unclear if it is the government leader in this case the Prime Minister's prerogative to declare representatives as having defected even if those representatives have not resigned or declared themselves for the Opposition side.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift
