Briceño Says That This Time Undermining Will Not Be Tolerated

John Briceño

When Briceño stepped down in 2011, a major factor was allegedly the turmoil in the Party which could not be quelled. Briceño was unable to gain the support of those who would take over the leadership after his ouster. He reportedly spent and lost almost three million dollars during his time in that office, and unquestionably left with a bitter taste in his mouth. We asked him straight-up – will all those allegations of undermining and back-biting, why put himself in that position again?

John Briceño, Candidate for P.U.P. Leader

“Many people ask me that question, bwai you want do that again? Certainly the first person to ask me was my wife. But on a serious note, I am prepared to do that because I love my party and I love my country. The biggest challenge I had was the issue of unity and wherever I go now and I tell them what was happening, the rank and file were saying well you did not tell us; you need to let us know. I am saying that at this moment, I am the best person to unite the P.U.P.  On February first, I am going to reach out to Cordel Hyde. Cordel and I are personal friends; we have worked together from many years. From the moment he started politics in 1994, Jaime, Renan and myself were the first ones to support him within the P.U.P. when he started his quest to be the candidate in 1994. And on February the first, I am going to reach out to Cordel and say let’s work; let’s get together. You have to play a crucial road in the rebuilding of the party; in going back to the roots and the philosophical moorings of the party: the issue of social justice, economic justice, environmental justice. You know Cordel will play a very important role. I am going to reach out to Honourable Francis Fonseca too and ask him as a former party leader to work along with us. I am going to reach out to Mike, to Julius, to Oscar Requeña, to everyone including Florencio Marin that has been opposing me. I am going to do everything possible for us to unite this party. But there is one things that I am going to do different this time…that after a time and we are working and if there are certain elements within the party that do not want to unite and want to continue to undermine the party, I’m going to call a national party council meeting where the thirty-one constituency can meet and have an open discussion. And if it is necessary for us to have a national convention, we are going to do that because the rank and file of this party, they are tired about the undermining and the disunity and that we need to unite. Whenever the People’s United Party is united, there is no force in this country that can defeat the People’s United Party.”