High level PUP sources tell 7NEWS that plans are being made inside the PUP to expel Albert Area Representative Mark Espat. Our sources say that it won’t happen this week, but it could unfold sometime after the Easter. And why? Well best we can find out, the hawks that now dominate the PUP hierarchy have just about had it with Espat – who has consistently challenged the party’s leadership and publicly taken them to task for questionable policy decisions.
And his incendiary 7 minute statement that aired on the news last night didn’t make it any better. In that he called out the party leader, accusing him of supporting Francis Fonseca for leader, concluding that, quote, “he and a tiny cabal have been doing everything possible to anoint Francis Fonseca as the new PUP leader.”
And while he’s pilloried Musa, ironically, it seems that it’s Musa’s departure that has made Espat fair game. Truth is, Musa’s accommodationist leadership has saved Espat before – but not this time. And now that Musa is moving on, party insiders tell us that the wisdom of the party hawks is that Francis Fonseca’s imminent takeover of the party will not be beset by the kind of attacks from within that Musa had to endure.
And while the internal PUP politics is where the story starts, from there it unfolds into manifold political possibilities. First, if Espat is expelled, his brother in law and most faithful ally – who, we are told, faces no prospect of being expelled – would be faced with the dilemma of either resigning in solidarity – as he has done before at the Cabinet level – or remain in the PUP as an endangered and outnumbered minority. And that would raise the possibility of a bye-election; those who resign from a political party they represent in the House must face a bye-election, but the law on floor-crossing makes no provision for those who are expelled.
But, that’s still a long ways off and we are getting ahead of ourselves. The fact is that tonight, Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde are still members of the PUP – and while there are solid reports that machinations are afoot to expel Espat – right now, it’s just hard chatter from credible sources. But truth is we’ve been hearing that kind of talk about Mark Espat since 2004. But now that the PUP have no ship of state to protect just a floundering party in the long night of opposition, this one may be the one.
But right now it isn’t, or at least not yet, and when it turns into something more concrete than solid reports and reliable chatter –possibly as soon as after the Easter – we’ll let you know.
