PUP leader ready to battle for party assets
It is not election time, but politics is heating up inside the political parties. The U.D.P. has had a very public fallout between the first female mayor and the prime minister. And now between the old and new P.U.P., war is breaking out. On Tuesday the Leader of the People’s United Party, John Briceño, received a letter from attorneys for former party leader, Said Musa, stating that he has refused and failed to pay the balance of the purchase price for the party assets. Musa wrote that if Briceño did not pay up by October twentieth, the assets would be repossessed. These include the Belize Times, Positive Vibes and Independence Hall that are in the name of both Musa and former campaign manager, Ralph Fonseca and have been valued at nine hundred thousand dollars. This morning the northern caucus met in Orange Walk Town and insiders say the mood was militant against Musa. We asked Briceño today via phone what’s the next move.
Via Phone: Johnny Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P.
“The northern Caucus, after a lengthy discussion, passed a resolution where they’re asking – it was a unanimous resolution that was supported by all eight constituencies of the north plus our associate member from Belize Rural South. We are asking the Hon Said Musa and Mr. Ralph Fonseca to return the assets of the party to the members and its supporters. These assets had always belonged to the party and that the rightful owners of the Belize Times, the party headquarters and Positive Vibes have been the People’s United Party’s. Now we are asking the national executive because we already have a National Executive planned for Saturday. That was set from a month ago. So we are presenting our resolution to the National Executive, asking the National Executive to do everything in its power to ensure that we can get back the party assets.”
Marion Ali
“But hadn’t you made a down payment of a hundred thousand dollars or so?”
Via Phone: John Briceño
“Last year when it first came to our attention that the party assets were not in the name of the P.U.P., instead of going through a long back and forth, we, with the advice and consent of the National Executive, I was given the authority to sign an agreement whereby we were going to make certain payments to the former party leader and the former national campaign manager so that then we can takeover the assets. A down payment was made and we took out an overdraft – the Belize Times, and we made subsequent payments towards it. But in November the National Executive made a decision to remove this issue, that we should find another way to of how we are going to address the issue of the party assets.”
Marion Ali
“So are you asking back for your deposit?”
Via Phone: John Briceño
“That is something that we can deal with later. The most important thing for us right now is to be able to address this issue ahead of us, that the former party leader would not use his law firm to sue the party that he was running for over ten years, and that he would also agree to sign over the assets to the party.”
Marion Ali
“Is there a division between the past leadership and the current leadership of the party?”
Via Phone: John Briceño
“I have no idea what division. Obviously the former party leader now is trying to—I really don’t know what’s his game plan.”
So what if Musa does not sign over the assets and takes the P.U.P. to court? Well, Briceño says that’s exactly what the National Executive will sit and discuss this Saturday. And when asked whether he views this latest development as an attack on his leadership, Briceño declined to answer directly.
