P.U.P. leadership seeks expulsion of Espat from party
Said Musa and the ruling faction of the Peoples’ United Party raised the stakes dramatically today with an unprecedented attempt to expel Albert Representative Mark Espat from the party. The move came in the form of a letter from Leader Emeritus George Price, in his capacity as chairman of the party’s Order of Distinguished Service, recommending to the National Executive that Espat be expelled for his recent public behaviour. The cited incidents were the disloyalty evidenced in his March seventeenth public statement in the electronic media and, more seriously, an allegation that Espat has been conspiring with the U.D.P. to have Musa and other former government officials arrested as early as next week.
It is not clear if the eighty-nine year old Price took the initiative to kick out Espat or was put up to it by others, but one fellow member of the O.D.S.—Hector Silva—told News Five that when he was called by Price he recommended to proceed with a hearing on the matter, in which the accused could defend himself, as was done in previous cases. Price, he said, rejected that idea and argued for an immediate expulsion. It should be noted that the Order of Distinguished Service is an advisory body and it is not even certain if all of its members were consulted. For the expulsion to be effective it would have to be approved by the National Executive, composed of around twenty-five of the P.U.P.’s top officials.
For his part, Mark Espat, contacted by News Five just before this newscast, told us that Mr. Price was being taken advantage of, that all three candidates for the P.U.P. leadership had condemned the diversion of ten million U.S. dollars from Venezuela, that his public remarks were all factual and that the charge of collaboration with the U.D.P. is quote “a complete lie”. In conclusion, Espat said that he intends to serve his full term as Albert Representative and that the constitution is clear that being expelled from the party does not mean he loses his seat in the House. The only way to trigger a bye-election is if a member resigns or crosses the aisle to join another party, neither of which Espat has done.
Assuming that the National Executive will follow Price’s wishes, the P.U.P. will find itself more divided than any time in its post-independence history. If rumors of the imminent arrest of Said Musa are true, then the hurry-come-up expulsion of Espat would make him a convenient scapegoat to direct the wrath of the party faithful away from those accused of any crimes.
