On Monday disgruntled Punta Gorda PUP Leonard Chavarria launched a protest in the city directly attacking the leadership of John Briceno saying of his party leader, quote: "The PUP has a leadership crisis right now and the only out for the PUP in the general elections is to get rid of John Briceno."
That is strong talk, and damaging, but coming from a political neophyte, it's not fatal.
But today, former PUP Deputy Leader, Godfrey Smith went for what looks to be a death blow against Briceno. Smith who served alongside Briceno in the Musa Cabinet from 1998 to 2008, and was also in the G7 with him, today wrote a withering review of the party leader in his Flashpoint column - which is posted to his website - saying that Briceno, quote:
"has survived (the past three years of leadership) and will soon begin his fumbling, frustrating, fourth year as Leader of the Opposition."
Smith argues: "The party should not allow him to complete it. Three years is enough time for any leader to get a handle on his party and start moving it forward; the PUP is actually going backwards...."
He concludes:
"Four deputy party leaders have deserted him; four of his five fellow MPs do not support his leadership; his executive routinely reverses decisions publicly announced by him; the party has lost ground in elections under his leadership. In parliament, he is ridiculed by the prime minister and eclipsed from the Opposition benches by the leader he succeeded...." "...let's face it: he is not cutting it as party leader…."
Strong words, and In a particularly unkind cut, Smith ends the piece quoting from a Dr. Suess children's book, and transposes his former colleague's Briceno's name in there, writing:
"Just go. Go. Go!?I don't care how.?You can go by foot.?You can go by cow.?Mr. Briceño will you please go now!...If you like you can go in an old blue shoe.?Just go, go GO! ….?Mr. Briceño I don't care how.?Mr. Briceño will you please GO NOW!"
Well, we don't know quite what to say about that one!….only that for context Smith was the campaign manager for Francis Fonseca when he challenged Briceno for the PUP leadership and lost.
And while surely entertaining, Smith's article changes nothing for Briceno, who, while he may be suffering some embarrassing public attacks, he still has what appears to be a strong, virtually invulnerable hold on his leadership and neither a challenger nor the orchestration of a challenge appears to be on the horizon. You can find a link to the entire article at 7newsbelize.com
http://www.flashpointbelize.com/flashpointarticles/tabid/103/EntryId/128/Basta-Briceno.aspx
