The People’s United Party will elect a new leader at the end of January. Close to three thousand delegates will vote at the Belmopan convention to determine where Francis Fonseca keeps the job or whether John Briceño or Cordel Hyde will be leading the opposition party. The campaign is in full swing with the three […]
Who will be the leader of the People’s United Party on February first? That’s the million dollar political question. The candidates are Francis Fonseca, John Briceño and Cordel Hyde, and one will emerge victorious from a balloting process in which almost three thousand delegates will participate. Francis Fonseca has been leader of the Party for […]
Many political observers believe that this is the worst of times for the battered grand ole Party which hasn’t won an election since 2003. It’s been said that no matter who wins, the party is in danger of disintegration. But Fonseca says that’s not going to happen. He believes that contrary to that school of […]
Fonseca says he has managed to mount the only national slate and is confident that he will be returned as Party Leader. Still, he is cognizant that the road ahead is a tough one simply because of the amount of delegates that will be voting on January thirty-first. He’s been in this spot before, actually, […]
And to wrap up Fonseca’s extended interview today, he spoke about the increasingly nasty, personal attacks on social media. It’s been pointed out repeatedly that the attacks are coming from Fonseca’s camp, if not necessarily from Fonseca. He says that’s not the way he does things, and while he cannot control all his supporters, those […]
The Father of the Nation, Honourable George Price, would have been ninety-seven today. The political icon died in September, 2011, and each year the P.U.P.’s leaders and many of the faithful make the pilgrimage to his tomb at the Lord Ridge Cemetery to pay tribute. They did this morning, to say Happy Birthday to the […]
Today, the Belize Progressive Party weighed-in on the rice issue once again. In a previous release the party called for the government not to destroy the three containers of Guyanese rice that remain at the Big Creek Port in the south. In an interview today, the Party Chairman Paco Smith says that research shows that […]
On the political front…The battle for leader of the People’s United Party continues to heat up, in a most unpleasant way. It’s gotten so bad in social media that at the recent National Party Council, all three candidates signed a commitment that they would keep it clean and civil. Those signatures weren’t worth the paper […]
We also took the opportunity to quiz Briceño about some of the challenges he will certainly be facing if he is indeed elected leader of the P.U.P. on January thirty-first. He spoke candidly about former Minister Ralph Fonseca and former Prime Minister Said Musa. John Briceño, Candidate for P.U.P. Leader “I consider both Said […]
One man who is certainly no stranger to the P.U.P. or to contentious conventions is Godfrey Smith. The last time there was a convention in which Briceño and Fonseca faced off, in 2008, Smith was Fonseca’s Campaign Manager. Since then he has had an on again, off again relationship with the Party. Most recently, in […]
John Briceño…he’s a candidate for a position he held from 2008 to 2011, Party Leader of the People’s United Party. On January thirty-first, he will face immediate past Party Leader Francis Fonseca and Cordel Hyde at a National Convention. Briceño stepped back in 2011, so the immediate question would be – why get back in? […]
When Briceño stepped down in 2011, a major factor was allegedly the turmoil in the Party which could not be quelled. Briceño was unable to gain the support of those who would take over the leadership after his ouster. He reportedly spent and lost almost three million dollars during his time in that office, and […]
The National Party Council of the People’s United Party met at Saturday to pave the way to a national convention set for January thirty-first in Belmopan. Various positions are up for grabs, but all eyes are on the leadership position. Immediate past leader Francis Fonseca, who stepped down on November fifth, stepped back in unexpectedly. […]
As we told you, all eyes will be on the race for leadership which has led to very heated and unpleasant debate on social media. The Chairman position is also up for grabs. Henry Charles Usher is the incumbent, so to speak, but very successful politician Oscar Requeña, wants a shot at that post. Usher […]
One constituency which is always volatile even at the best of times is Belmopan. These are not the best of times, and early on in the convention race there was controversy over the delegate lists. Reports are that standard bearer Patrick Andrews has been manipulating the delegate list to ensure that all persons on that […]
In twenty-three days, the People’s United Party will have a new leader or a new old leader, as the case may be. Two of the men vying for the position, John Briceño and Francis Fonseca, have been leaders of the P.U.P. – Briceño from 2008 to 2011, and Fonseca from that point until he stepped […]
If you needed another indication that things are distinctly dread…Fin-Sec Joseph Waight confirmed that the much lauded Christmas Cheer program was handled very sparingly. In years past, U.D.P. Area Representatives were given ninety thousand dollars each, P.U.P. Area Reps forty-five thousand and U.D.P. caretakers forty-five thousand. This year, only U.D.P. ministers were given Christmas Cheer, […]
Following the official announcement of three aspiring leaders for the P.U.P. on December fifteenth, the party held a National Executive meeting at Independence Hall this afternoon to determine details of the national convention to be held on January thirty-first. Despite multiple requests, none of the three has agreed to an interview, and they didn’t today, […]
The names are in and the battle for leader of the People’s United Party is officially on. Past P.U.P. leader John Briceño got in his nomination first, on Monday, along with endorsement signatures from eight constituency chairmen from the northern caucus, except for Corozal South East where the area rep is Florencio Marin Junior. Outgoing […]
Two thousand seven hundred and ninety-three delegates will vote at the National convention – one for every twenty-five P.U.P. votes cast in the November fourth general election. As we told you, immediate past leader Francis Fonseca reportedly submitted a complete slate for all open positions. It’s not yet clear how that will work out at […]
Turning to politics….At news time, there is only one confirmed name in the leadership race for P.U.P. Party Leader. The deadline is Tuesday, December fifteenth, but John Briceño was officially nominated today via letter to PUP Secretary-General Henry Charles Usher. Briceño’s nomination included endorsement signatures from the executive committee chairmen of four constituencies in Orange […]
Last Friday in the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister bid farewell to Francis Fonseca as the Leader of the Opposition in the House. Well tonight, the outgoing P.U.P. Leader has made an about-turn and is now an aspirant for new Party Leader. In the wake of general elections Fonseca announced that he was stepping […]
Last week at the House of Representatives, there was talk of yet another Immigration scandal. This one involved the procuring and issuing of nationality documents to residents of the southern community of Bella Vista for a thousand dollars each. Toledo East Area Representative, Mike Espat, went so far as to call the names of Acting […]
It happened too late for much news coverage on Wednesday, but one of the highlights of the Senate meeting was a request for an inquiry into immigration corruption, specifically in regards to the David Nanes Schnitzer fiasco. The matter was introduced at close to six in the evening, and it was clear early on that […]
On the table for discussion, debate and passage before the Senate this morning were two loan motions for road rehabilitation and tourism, thirteen agreements for ratification and the usually inflammable Petrocaribe appropriations bill. The session was the first official meeting since elections on November fourth and had the participation of a new president and six […]
