Briceño will dedicate himself to work with constituents

While Eamon Courtenay may be contemplating a career in electoral politics, John Briceño is a veteran who plies his trade in one of Belize’s roughest political neighbourhoods. To give up the perks and power of the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, not to mention a ministry that controls any election’s most important commodity–land–did not come easily.

John Briceño, Former. Deputy Prime Minister
“I am one of those that recognise that we serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister; that is the system that we operate on. But at the same time, I think that I also have the right whether I want to accept any offer being given to me at that time and on this issue, I felt strongly that it is something that I would not be interested in at this time, especially ten months before an election, you really need to concentrate in doing more political work. And felt that probably I can best serve the party being outside of the Cabinet and serve the people of Orange Walk Central in particular by spending more time in my constituency in Orange Walk Central.”

Stewart Krohn
“Do you think the Prime Minister was deliberately trying to punish you and embarrass you by assigning you portfolios that you could not accept, particularly with what he did with Florencio Marin and Vildo Marin subsequently?”

John Briceño
“Again, I think that’s a question that the Prime Minister would need to answer. I respect his decision, he is the Prime Minister and as the Prime Minister he can decide to invite anybody in his Cabinet; it is his Cabinet. But again as I mentioned earlier, at the same time I think as a representative, as a member of our party, I could also have the right to refuse and I chose to refuse the offer that he gave me to serve in his Cabinet.”

Stewart Krohn
“You mentioned on several occasions your need to go and work hard for the party. Are you saying that despite what happened in Cabinet and your differences with the Prime Minister, you are still a hundred percent dedicated to the well-being of the People’s United Party?”

John Briceño
“I need to emphasise that I was born as a member of the People’s United Party. The Briceño family, two generations have served the government and I take great pride in saying that and doing that. I was first elected a representative and secondly a minister by the Prime Minister inviting me to join his Cabinet. But I am a P.U.P., I believe and everybody can tell you that we are going to have a very difficult election and that we need to do everything possible to be able to win. By giving me a new challenge at this time, I felt that it was just going to distract me from the real thing, which is the elections. It would take a lot of my time, my efforts, my energy to try to get into a new ministry and to learn a new ministry in ten months. So I think that it is best to serve the party. It is because of the P.U.P. that I am an elected member of the National Assembly and that I need to serve my party. And I felt that I can be of better service to the party, the party’s motto is to serve and I believe that by staying out of the Cabinet at this time I can better serve the people of Orange Walk Central and any other member that would feel that I can help them in any way and I would gladly do so.”

Stewart Krohn
“Mr. Briceño, with all do respect, let’s take the sugar coating off this. The party is very, very seriously divided and what has taken place over the last few days has essentially ripped the party apart. Now you can sit and talk about how hard you are going to work for the party and this and that, can you see yourself standing on rostrums all over the country, arm in arm with Said Musa exhorting the people to vote P.U.P. all the way?”

John Briceño
“What is important to recognise is what are the basic principles of the party: the issue about service to people, the issues of social justice in trying to create opportunities for our people, taking them out of poverty—there is so much that this party stands for and I have absolutely no problem standing up on any rostrum extolling the virtues of this party, of the People’s United Party and how is it that we can do better. A lot has been done, but a lot more can and should be done by our party.”

Stewart Krohn
“Is Said Musa leading the People’s United Party in the right direction?”

John Briceño
“Well I think that is something that all of us can have different opinions. All of us can feel that we can do certain things differently and, yes, there are times that the Prime Minister and I differ in views, but that’s human nature. At the end of the day, we belong under one party, we serve under one banner, which is the People’s United Party, and we need to remember what is our objective. Our objective is to serve the people and to try to continue to create opportunities for the people of this country.”

Stewart Krohn
“July first national convention, you are gonna kick up dust at the convention? Are you going to, prior to the convention, submit your name to be in nomination to be one of the Deputy Leaders of the party, what are your plans?”

John Briceño
“As one person, a friend said, you have to take it one day at a time. I mean who thought that at the end of yesterday I would have been out of the Cabinet for a government that I have worked so hard for since 1996 along with the party leader and the now Prime Minister. It has been a privilege for me to serve as Deputy Leader of this great party, the People’s United Party, but at this time, I think the first thing we need to do is consult with the people that put me there, the people from Orange Walk Central. I am convinced that I continue to maintain the support from them, but I think that at this time I need to go back to them, meet with them, talk to them, and try to get some sort of feedback from the people of Orange Walk Central.”

Stewart Krohn
“Speaking of consultations, no doubt you have spent a good deal of time consulting with your three other former Cabinet ministers, namely Mark Espat, Cordel Hyde, and Eamon Courtenay. Do you see that grouping as the nucleus of the new P.U.P. or maybe a post-2008 P.U.P.?

John Briceño
“Well I don’t think there is anything such as a new P.U.P. because the basic principles that drive this party, the philosophy of the P.U.P. has not changed. What changed are people and the mode of operation, those are the things that changed. I do believe that Cordel Hyde and Mark Espat and Eamon Courtenay are people that can continue to serve this party very well. I do believe that they are going to be here for a long time and them along with many other people. We believe that we can continue to build on what has been done and be able to carry us forward to winning elections because a political party is about winning elections.”

Stewart Krohn
“You’ve been Deputy Prime Minister for two terms; anyone who has ever been deputy anything has to at some time envision themselves as no longer being the deputy, but in fact being the leader. Is John Briceño ready to lead a party and a country?”

John Briceño
“Well I certainly believe that I have gained experience over the past nine years and I am grateful for that opportunity that has been given to me. It is something that I took very seriously and I have learnt a lot over the past nine years. But whether I can—if I have the abilities, yes I believe I do have the abilities, but this is something for the party to decide. It is the people in the People’s United Party that are going to decide whether they believe that I can continue to serve them and in any which way they ask me to serve them I will be ready to serve.”

Reports from Belmopan indicate that a number of public officers working in the Natural Resources Ministry stayed off the job today in protest over their boss’s departure, but News Five could not verify the extent of that protest. Briceño told us that he hoped that the reforms made over the last decade in the ministry would remain intact and that any staff member who voiced displeasure at his departure would not be victimised by the new minister, Florencio Marin.