Will the PUP Have a Stronger Presence in Dangriga Going into Bye-elections?
Julius Espat
In January, the UDP registered a blow-out victory in bye-elections held in the Cayo North constituency. In that political event, the PUP was almost a no-show in terms of presence and power – believed to be the result of a serious lack of finances. The financial picture, at least on the face, of it, doesn’t seem to be much different as the Party heads into the Dangriga bye-election. PUP leader Francis Fonseca has said it will be different, largely because of their candidate this time. For PUP Deputy Leader Julius Espat, the candidate factors in, but so will the ramped up presence of the Party and the energy going into the bye-election on July eight.
Julius Espat, Deputy Leader, PUP
“I like what I am feeling here, to be honest. The spirit seems to be lively and we have excellent cooperation with the candidate and the team sent in by the Campaign Manager which I think is key. Even though he is a new candidate he is a seasoned person and a mature man, and he is listening to advice. That only spells positive things when you have a candidate that’s willing to do that. So that to me is a good sign. I haven’t been on the ground as yet. Cayo South will start this week so then I’ll have a better idea personally as to what’s happening.”
Reporter
“What can we expect to see going into the bye-election in terms of support? I know that in the Cayo North election there was very little presence on the ground from the PUP.”
Julius Espat
“Well the People’s United Party and its supporters, and I think it goes back to the Standard Bearers…they are the ones who will have to energize their people to come out. People want to see leadership. They want to see energy. They want to have something to believe in. So I think our leaders need to do that. And if that is done then you will see more energy. We consider Dangriga a PUP base. We consider it something that we should never lose, and that should give us even more incentive to be able to win it. And we are going up against Petrocaribe. Everybody knows that, but we have to be able to explain to the people. And we have to learn how to beat Petrocaribe. So I like it as a test. We will face that in the general elections so that is something that we all know. And to me, if it would be my election, I would want to test it before, so that’s a good thing.”
On Monday candidate Anthony Sabal told News Five that he’s not fazed by the challenge of limited resources. He says that the PUP has the man and not the money, while the UDP has the money but not the man.
