Corozal North’s Hugo Patt Is Interim U.D.P. Leader

Mike Peyrefitte

With Faber’s departure, he is succeeded on an interim basis by former deputy prime minister and Corozal North Area Representative Hugo Patt.  A leadership convention has been scheduled for March twenty-seventh at which time at least two candidates, including Tracy Panton and Shyne Barrow will be contesting the seat that has been vacated by the disgraced former leader.  According to Peyrefitte, notwithstanding a position taken by the Central Executive last Tuesday, the decision of the N.P.C. over the weekend superseded that proposed course of action.  

Mike Peyrefitte, Chairman, U.D.P.

“All I know is that we have moved on, there is no emergency here. There is no crisis here. The party leader resigned and we move forward now to March twenty-seventh to pick a new leader. I’m sure you’re aware that the Central Executive had made a decision to do certain things but that was overridden by the Central Executive on Saturday because the N.P.C. is the higher body and all that the N.P.C. said was when he indicated to the nation and to the world that he was going to resign January thirty-first, he resigned and that’s it. I don’t know where the dictatorship comes from, I mean, nobody forced him to resign. I will admit that I openly asked for him to resign and he chose to go on television to say he would resign. I don’t know where the dictatorship thing would come from. I don’t know. The national constitution of the country which the U.D.P. within its own constitution swears to uphold, the national constitution of the country says that the Leader of the Opposition is chosen very differently from the prime minister. The prime minister of the country is the leader of the political party who enjoys the majority support in the house, however, the Leader of the Opposition is the person who enjoys the majority of those in the house who don’t support the government. And so there are five members in the house who don’t support the government, so a majority of those five people, that’s how the Leader of the Opposition is chosen. Now that does not clash in this case that we have now, with our U.D.P. constitution but even if it were to clash with it, then the national constitution of the country would have to prevail because the U.D.P. constitution has to be subject to the country’s constitution.”