Three men want to lead the PUP. They are Francis Fonseca, John Briceno, and Mark Espat. The deadline for nomination for the PUP leadership convention was today at 5:00 p.m. Fonseca accepted nomination on Monday February 18th. He was nominated in writing by a number of constituencies, namely: Cayo West, Cayo North, Cayo South, the United Women’s Group, Pickstock, Dangriga, Stann Creek West, Toledo East and Toledo West. And after long discussion and deliberation, John Briceno and Mark Espat failed to reach a compromise. So Briceno went in for his nomination early this afternoon and Mark Espat went in just before 5:00 p.m. He showed up with area representatives from Port Loyola and Lake Independence as well as the chairperson from Collet who jointly nominated him.
When he came out Espat told us he wants to be leader because the PUP has to show that it got the message of February 7th.
Hon. Mark Espat, Candidate for PUP Leader
“I accepted the nomination because I believe we have to not only hear the message of February the 7th but we have to act on that message. The motto of the PUP is to serve the people and it is only when we tell the people that we have heard their message, that we return our social justice roots of the PUP, it is only then that we will be able to swing back that almost 20,000 voters who went to the UDP on February the 7th.”
Jules Vasquez,
Realistically you’re changing the status quo of the party who is embodied in Francis Fonseca. Do you have a realistic chance of taking over the leadership of this party at a leader’s convention?
Hon. Mark Espat,
“Well first of all you will read in my acceptance letter and that nomination letter that we are calling for a free, fair, and transparent election. One that is free specifically from intimidation and from inducement. We are asking for the ratio of delegates to be changed from one per 100 hundreds to one per 25. There are many more PUPs all across Belize who want to participate in this process. If 47, 48,000 people voted for us then is it not reasonable to ask that 2,000 vote for their party leader? In divisional conventions we have had situations where more than two thousand people have voted for a mere standard bearer, I shouldn’t say a mere, but a standard bearer which has to be on par in terms of importance, not as important as the position of party leader.
We are also asking for us to know who are the people who will vote. How is it possible for an election to be held without knowing who your voters will be. It is a basic tenant of democracy, that one must know who will vote in an election. Those are two perquisites to a fair and free convention. As of today 15 divisions have called for those reforms. 15 divisions have asked the party to expand the delegate count and to ensure that the list is made available to us.”
Jules Vasquez,
But supporting those reforms is not supporting you.
Hon. Mark Espat,
“Well on your news yesterday you said bluntly that any challenge to the status quo means that there is a call for change. I have travelled all around Belize. The members and supporters of the PUP want a different course. They want one that for example will see us on the side of the workers, not on the side of the special interest. They look at the results of February 7th and they ask themselves, how is it that our party got to this historic low. I say to them that there is hope, there is lots of energy, there is the opportunity to reinvigorate and renew the party. We can only do so if we bring the party together, if we return it to its roots, if we look ourselves in the mirror and we say, we made fundamental mistakes, we should never disguise the interests of a few for the national interest. When we put the national interest first, we will restore the glory of the PUP.”
Jules Vasquez,
In your opinion is Francis Fonseca prepared to do that?
Hon. Mark Espat,
“Well I think that we should let the delegates decide which of the three of us is best able to bring people together. In Albert, a division which we did not win for 37 years, I was able with the support of my community to bring together PUP supporters, NIP supporters, UDP supporters, and swing voters. We need to replicate that model across the country. This cannot be a convention that’s fixed, this cannot be a convention that is bogus. This has to be a convention that offers the PUP supporters across the country, a meaningful number of them, the opportunity to vote for who they see fit to lead this party, to restore us to government.”
Jules Vasquez,
Why did you feel it was important for him to declare himself as a candidate for leader?
Hon. Cordel Hyde, Lake I Area Representative
“Because I think he represents the best possible opportunity and chance
for the PUP to return to its roots, to return to its social justice roots, to return to its core values whereby the masses of the people benefit entirely from the actions and decisions of the party in power.”
Jules Vasquez,
Do you feel that having Francis Fonseca as leader would meaningfully distract from this re-orienting to roots, from this return to roots?
Hon. Cordel Hyde,
“Well I think the people sent us a very clear message couple weeks ago. Way back in 2006 the people sent us a clear message, that they wanted the party to do things differently. We didn’t listen to that message, we refused to change our ways. In 2007 the people sent that message across the country again in village council elections and again we did not listen and again we did not change our ways. And February 7th the people sent that message loudly and clearly that they’ve had enough and we must change our ways and we must listen to them. And so it is incumbent upon us to listen to them. Now Francis Fonseca I imagine will be judged based on his past connections with the leadership of the party.”
Jules Vasquez,
Do you feel that Mark Espat and John Briceno, not forming an alliance, doesn’t that make impossible for either of them to become leader?
Hon. Cordel Hyde,
“Well we live in a free and fair country whereby everybody has a right to aspire to leadership and so I think these gentlemen exercised that right today by deciding that they want to offer themselves to be leader of this party, this 57 year old party. I know that talks continue between the two gentlemen and at the end of the day I know that a decision will be made that is in the best interest of this party and the best interest in this country.”
As Hyde alluded to, the conventional wisdom suggests that for either to have a realistic chance at posing a challenge to Fonseca they would still have to form an alliance. There are 5 weeks to go before the leadership convention at the end of March. A location has not been decided upon.
