The old and the new P.U.P. close ranks

Turning to political news, Saturday’s Central Party Council of the P.U.P met as scheduled at Independence Hall. The rumored challenge against the leadership of John Briceño did not materialize and the agenda for the meeting dealt with reports from the B.Y.M. , the Order of Distinguished Service and the independent Miranda Report, a document that examined the party’s defeat in 2008 which was promptly re-branded as a P.U.P. Report.
The big news to come out did not have to do with a threat to Briceño but with the resurgence of the old guard that was welcomed back to the party. Leader Emeritus George Price showed up one hour before the meeting was scheduled to start and soon enough he was back in the fold of the O.D.S., a particularly thorny issue last year when the then new P.U.P. made it known that Price was not the Chair of that organ. By the end of the meeting, ranks had closed between the old and the new, and it almost appeared as one big happy family. Except that missing were deputy party leaders Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde, and their delegates. Port Loyola and three Cayo constituencies were also a no-show and are believed to be siding with Espat and Hyde.
The first sign that the deal was consummated came this morning when Briceño and some party supporters showed up in court for the hearing of his predecessor, Said Musa. As for Espat and Hyde, it is early to tell what is the next move as party conventions are not due anytime soon and any talk of their removal would fly in the face of Briceño who jumped back in the 2008 leadership race when Espat was threatened with expulsion.