Dan Silva trashes Luke Espat in Cayo Central Convention

In political news, the People’s United Party held a convention in Cayo Central on Sunday where conventional wisdom proved accurate in favor of veteran politician Dan Silva. The campaign was extensive and heated and when the votes were counted, former two time minister of government, Dan Silva trashed businessman Luke Espat by a huge margin, in fact well over a thousand votes to win the Cayo Central Constituency. Isani Cayetano has this story.

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Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The political aspirations of well-known businessman Luke Espat have been cut short dramatically, following a major upset at the polls.  On Sunday, the People’s United Party held a convention to choose a standard bearer for the Cayo Central constituency, a heated race which saw Espat going up against seasoned politician Dan Silva.  The turnout of voters at the Santa Elena Primary School was arguably one of the largest, as stalwarts of the party converged on the venue to cast their ballots.

Dan Silva

Dan Silva, Cayo Central Standard Bearer

“It was a hotly contested convention but I think the people spoke clearly who they wanted to be their representative.  I’m a man they know of now for many, many years, I’ve worked in the area so I was not surprised by the margin of victory.”

…and that margin is a rather wide surplus.  Of the one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-three votes cast, majority were in favor of Silva; a total of one thousand, four hundred and twenty-six.

Luke Espat

Dan Silva

“For Cayo Central it was a historic turnout.  Normally, at the last convention we had nine hundred and fifty people, so this time we had one thousand nine, hundred and thirty-three.  As you know we have a very vindictive area representative and in fact this morning he fired a young person already, by the name of Perez, has been fired and so people were scared to come out.  But despite that, the people came out in historic numbers yesterday.”

Despite what many say was a major financial investment, notwithstanding all efforts to mobilize supporters throughout the course of the afternoon, Espat’s defeat was sound.  Leading up to the convention there was a bit of controversy regarding the venue where it would be held.

Dan Silva

“I think the national executive and some of the local executives here wanted to take the convention by the race track, way by the edge of town but apparently they couldn‘t get the permission from the school and then they looked at other venues but then they ultimately came to the Santa Elena Primary School which is a very good location.  It’s central, it’s secure, it has bathroom facilities.  So it turned out to be a good convention because of that.”

Espat, when it was all said and done, received a mere four hundred and eighty-seven votes.  When the businessman decided to enter the political arena as a candidate, his fellow party member Collet Montejo, in a bold move, withdrew his candidacy to allow Espat to face Silva, a two-time area representative in the constituency.

Isani Cayetano

“What happens next in terms of your efforts to run in the particular constituency against Rene Montero?”

Rene Montero

Dan Silva

“Well, as you know, I’ve represented that constituency two times.  I have worked all my life in that area, I know the people.  The people know me, they know what kind of person, what I stand for.  I’m a man who believes in principle.  Government should not be a place where you go and make money but rather to serve.  So it was easy after eleven years of being out, to come back and you saw the margin yesterday.”

For Silva, the job in Cayo Central continues.

Dan Silva

“This morning I was in office meeting people and we will continue doing that on a regular basis and we will continue registering people.  Our constituency has close to eight thousand people now and I figure within the next six months we should probably grow to about eight thousand five hundred.  So the office will remain open, our zone captains will be in place.  We are not going to disintegrate or we’re not going to abandon them, we will continue the work.”

Of the total numbers of votes cast, nineteen were spoilt ballots. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.