Opposition Leader: U.D.P. has no plan, no heart, no hope
The split in the People’s United Party has been known since the leadership change in March of this year. And every now and then there is a reminder in the public domain that the opposition party is not about to close ranks, at least not anytime soon. The squabble just now has to do with what is said to be imminent, the arrest of the former Prime Minister and former ministers who came out publicly yesterday as the “P.U.P.s standing up against injustice’’ and who are regarded as the old guard. Today, the new P.U.P. issued its own statement saying that while the opposition party welcomes the activism of the ad-hoc group, it says it is not an official arm of the P.U.P. And according to the new P.U.P., its position remains the same, that holders of public office must be accountable for their actions, that they are innocent until proven guilty and that they deserve a fair trail by an independent judiciary. Here is what P.U.P. leader, John Briceño, had to say.
John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition
“Our opposition has remained very clear; we have always said that under a constitution, any citizen is innocent until proven guilty, that there must be due process, independent judiciary and that all office holders must be held accountable for their individual actions; be it in the past, in the present or in the future and that had been very clear from always.”
Duane Moody
“Are the divisions in the P.U.P. going to heal?”
John Briceño
“Of course, we’ve been working on that since I was elected as the new party leader. When I was elected as the new party leader, one of the things that I promised was to take the party back to its core principles; to serve, social justice, fighting for the poor people and to win back the confidence of the Belizean electorate. We’re been doing that and I feel very confident that we continue to unite as a party. As a party, we continue to be concerned about the victimization of the Belizean workser. There are many things that our party is concerned about. We’re concerned about the victimization of the Belizean workers, the misguided policies of the government such as importing rice when we have rice here in Belize. We’re concerned about the future of Belize; unemployment is going up, inflation is going up, crime is going up and as things are right now, the Peoples’ United Party is the only credible alternative for Belizeans because under the U.D.P. there is no plan, no heart and no hope.”
