As you may have noted from the logo on his shirt, or the sign in the background, the Prime Minister granted that interview today at the opening of Positive Vibes Radio, the PUP radio station. It is the old FM 2000 - its image spruced up, its bank accounts juiced up, and its operation transformed by the PUP party machinery. We attended the opening and found that the world of positivity is a place where the sun always shines on the PUP.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
This is the building just off Coney Drive that houses Positive Vibes Radio. On this day, the king and his trusty steeds took the front row, flanked by party loyalists. There was a blessing, cultural performances, and the cutting of a ribbon held tenderly by three sets of hands. All signs of a party united, and rightly so, because Chairman of the PUP Francis Fonseca says the party's following has called out for Positive Vibes:
Francis Fonseca, PUP Chairman
"Why does the PUP need a radio station? The truth is that our members and supporters demanded it because they do not believe our party's voice is being heard."
The party feels this a platform for the popular resurgence of a government which polls show is widely disliked.
Francis Fonseca,
"The big blue machine is on its way back. Positive Vibes is a part of that machine."
And in the world of this fearsome blue machine. It's somehow fitting that they have Gerrard Coleman, the son of Radio Belize legend Seferino Coleman as a featured personality. Fitting because their remarks show that right about now, this grand old party would like to go back to the days of government controlled radio, before the pluralism or dissent of the independent media.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, PUP Leader
"All you hear about is what they believe is going wrong; their doubts, their frustrations, their griping, and this kind of thing, all negative nihilism that is dragging us down as a people. We have to remove all the dissimulation that is going on in our politics today. We have to remove the disinformation, the lies and distortions."
Francis Fonseca,
"When you tune into Positive Vibes, don't expect to hear any whining and complaining and scandalous personal attacks. We have enough of that already."
And with those less than oblique shots at the independent media, and the opposition radio - which the Prime Minister himself licensed - it's clear that for the PUP, being positive means riding with the government side, right or wrong.
And just for being positive, Positive Vibes got off on the right foot with Social Security which FM2000 owed close to $50,000. That debt was traded for future advertising, and on the agreement that Social Security will desist from taking legal action against the radio station.
