The social unrest has subsided and until municipal elections next year, it's the political slow season. But not within the UDP where the run-up to the next election has already started with some hotly contested conventions. Nowhere is it hotter than in the Caribbean Shores Area where Oscar Ayuso the first deputy of the UDP is being challenged. Unless you've been under a rock somewhere, by now you would have seen or heard the television and radio ads for Carlos Perdomo who's challenging the Opposition's Deputy Leader, Oscar Ayuso. Conventionally, challenging the Deputy is just not the done thing in mass party politics but Perdomo is doing just that. Today we asked him why, and moreover, why he's turned a divisional event into a national campaign.
Carlos Perdomo, UDP Caribbean Shores Aspirant
"When you're a challenger of an incumbent its always a tougher hill to climb so we thought that we would like to do a very proactive assertive campaign. The second reason is personal in that anytime I get involved in something, I like to do it the best way possible."
Jules Vasquez,
How can you afford this? We know that the UDP is not a party which publicly boasts of having lavish financial resources.
Carlos Perdomo,
"Well I don't know about lavish. We get a lot of people to do things in kind, free, it does cost a little bit but it is not as much as you think."
Jules Vasquez,
Who challenges a deputy?
Carlos Perdomo,
"If he were not in Caribbean Shores then it would not have been a problem but I decided to run in Caribbean Shores and by coincidence the Deputy Leader is in this division. It doesn't have anything to do with his position in the party, its just that he happens to be in Caribbean Shores. A lot of people have come to me to add a new vision, a new credibility. We want Caribbean Shores back in the House and a lot of my supporters feel that with their enthusiasm and my leadership we can do that."
Jules Vasquez,
Are you afraid that this will cause some discord in the UDP if, for example, the Deputy Leader of the Party is, in the conclusion of this, unseated? Will you be responsible for the discord it has created?
Carlos Perdomo,
"I have no doubt that you will have a few people that might be unhappy. I think whatever little discord will not be as great as some people would like it to. I am a unifier and you will see that if I am victorious, Caribbean Shores will get even stronger."
Jules Vasquez,
Will Manuel Esquivel, your friend and your former professional colleague in government, will he be coming to support you on Sunday?
Carlos Perdomo,
"Well Manuel and I are still friends. But you know I have such great respect for Manuel and know what he stands for that I have not asked him to come out and support me. He is not registered in this division but we are still friends; we talk regularly and I try to follow his political footsteps."
Ayuso declined comment on the convention.
