There is much new information to report tonight in the ongoing Universal debacle. First, there are credible reports to our newsroom which say that Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno has decided to resign, if the Prime Minister takes the Universal motion to vote on Friday. Second, he may be joined in that by Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Courtenay.
And while the threat of those impending resignations rock the Musa administration, the third development is that Corozal Southeast Representative Florencio Marin Sr. who had been firm in his opposition to the Universal motion, has switched; he has gone on record to say he will support the Prime Minister.
And there's a fourth major related development, the Leader of the Opposition has gotten the Supreme Court to stop the acting Commissioner of Police, Maureen Leslie from blocking a UDP protest on Friday in Belmopan. That's an outline of the day's major developments and now here are the details.
Reports say that Deputy Prime Minister Briceno may resign as early as tomorrow evening. We have confirmed that his office staff packed up his files and belongings at the Ministry of Natural Resources today. Briceno declined comment, but we do know that he met with the Prime Minister this afternoon and did not hand him a letter of resignation. His position, as we understand it from senior PUP sources, is that if the motion goes to the House, Briceno will vote against it, but before he does that, he would first resign.
Similarly, Briceno's closest ally in Cabinet, Foreign Minister and Senator Eamon Courtenay has reportedly told the Prime Minister that he cannot support the motion and is also compelled to resign if it is brought back to the house on Friday.
But while those two appear firm and fixed in their opposition to the controversial motion, Florencio Marin Sr. has indicated publicly that he will support the Prime Minister. That is significant, because the PM's camp is virtually certain that they will face at least four PUP members opposing and possibly six if it goes to a vote on Friday. So the defection of one to the Prime Minister's side is critical. We understand that some heavy political brokering factored into Marin's defection.
So that's where it is tonight. The Prime Minister has already fired two Ministers, Cordel Hyde and Mark Espat, and stands on the precipice of losing two more.
