56 years ago on this day - the PUP was formed from the People's Committee with John Smith, Leigh Richardson and George Price at the forefront. Now, just past its golden anniversary, Belize's grand old party is facing a mighty political test as it is riven by bitter rivalries within and political misfortune without. So today the PUP held a National Party Council at its party headquarters, Independence Hall in Belize City with a spirit of renewal. Yesterday, Party Chairman Francis Fonseca discussed the overall state of the party and the hope for renewal that this anniversary represents.
Jules Vasquez,
What as the party completes 56 years, some would say that it is limping into its 56th year.
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Attorney General
"Yes the People's United Party has gone through tremendous challenges, particularly over the last few years as a government and as a party. And any party that has been in power Jules, going for over eight years now, will find itself limping in some respects. There is a malaise that sets in. There is a sort of rest that sets in and the energy is not there that used to be there. We have been caught up with a lot of government work, we've been outing a lot of fires. And so we haven't spent enough time working on the political front.
What we're doing tomorrow in celebration of the 56th anniversary of the party's birthday is having a National Party Council meeting. But it is not just a regular meeting. We are really going to launch a plan of action for the party for the way forward, the challenges, and how we are going to meet those challenges. We will look at where we are in terms of our manifesto commitments and what we need to get done. So and also we will be launching a whole new media campaign and strategy. All of that will be done at the NPC tomorrow. And it is complementing what we are doing as a government next week out at Caye Chapel. You made fun of us what we are doing out there is seeking to reenergize ourselves, refocus, and really sit down as the group, develop a great sense of unity, and focus on key issues that are facing us as a country and as a party. So we are doing it as a party and as a government trying to bring the two together and I am hopeful that in the next few weeks, coming out of all these discussions and meetings, that people will see a reenergized PUP government.
We have a lot of work to do to get back to where we were in the heydays of the PUP, where we were in 1998 and even in 2003. We have a lot of work to get there."
The party top brass moves form the party council to next week's retreat at the Caye Chapel Island Resort where it will come up with a plan called Vision 2025.
