“The PUP has been in preparation for an early election, and a March 7 election, since December, and with the replacement of Anthony Mahler in Caribbean Shores by Dr. David Hoy now complete, no further shockwaves should hit Independence Hall.” (From headline story, “Barrow rolls the dice March 7!” in Amandala #2585, Sunday, February 5, 2012).
Nevertheless, the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP), in the span of a weekend, has lost two of its most respected and most successful area representatives, in Hon. Cordel Hyde (Lake Independence) and Hon. Mark Espat (Albert).
Today, the party presented the two candidates it hopes will keep those important “safe seats” in the blue column, with just thirty days to the general elections on March 7, 2012.
Hyde, who has served in the House of Representatives since 1998 and is a former Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, announced his departure from the general election race via press release on Friday, having broken the news on Thursday night to his constituency committee.
In his public statement released on Friday, he revealed that his son, Khalid, was diagnosed in a New York hospital on Monday, January 30, with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer affecting white blood cells which manifests itself in low-grade fever, night sweats, unexplained weight loss and back pain, as well as enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver and spleen. It occurs most commonly in young men, aged 15-40, and treatment with chemotherapy and other cancer-specific treatments results in fairly high rates of recovery if detected early.
Hyde also addressed the strained nature of the relationship with his party, readily admitting that “the relationship with my party’s leadership over the years has not been the best.”
He goes on to state that his recent absences from party and parliamentary events (including multiple House meetings and the 2010 budget debate, and all but one general political convention, the one at which he was nominated to run for a third term) were “oftentimes my desperate but sincere attempts at getting the party to see the error of its ways, to return to its social justice roots.”
Hyde closed the release by thanking his constituency committee and supporters in Lake Independence. He left the country on Friday, making him unavailable for a further interview.
This morning, Hon. Espat’s constituency committee issued a release announcing that they had been notified of the representative’s decision to stand down from being a candidate on March 7, for reasons of which he made them aware, but which they were not prepared to make public.
The release went on to speak of the accomplishments of the area representative, particularly his standing “firm in defending the interests of the 99% from the assaults of the 1%, refusing to be bullied into submission.”
It stated that in respect of the PUP, “What party members like us seek, and what Belizeans deserve, is a party where donors matter less and merit matters more; where results match rhetoric; and where policies live up to the Party’s creed of service to the people, social justice and a mixed economy.”
Hon. Espat, who was elected to the House at the same time as his younger colleague, likewise has not responded to our calls for comment.
This afternoon at Independence Hall, the PUP, after a National Executive meeting this morning, unveiled the rebranded “Team 31” of general elections standard bearers, including Hyde’s and Espat’s replacements.
Yolanda Schakron, businesswoman, president of the NGO, Belizeans for Justice, and aunt of murder victim Christopher Galvez, is entering the race in Lake Independence — the party’s fourth female candidate, while the ruling party has none. She has been a vocal advocate on various recent national issues and had been mentioned as a potential candidate for mayor of Belize City under the PUP, which candidacy is currently held by Karen Bodden.
Schakron spoke briefly when questioned how much she would be relying on the work of her predecessor with such a short time remaining before the elections, stating that as of this afternoon she had the support of nine members of the former constituency committee for Cordel Hyde, and was confident that she, knowing the people of the area and having been on the ground, could deliver the division for the fourth consecutive time.
This evening, the chair of the committee, Cardinal Usher, visited the Amandala compound along with Ms. Schakron and told us that the full committee, including himself, had thrown its support behind Schakron’s candidacy in a meeting about an hour and a half earlier.
David Craig, currently a commercial (sales and marketing) manager at Bowen and Bowen Limited, councilor for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and nephew of Rt. Hon. George Price, the party’s most iconic leader, said he would be given time off by his bosses to campaign to defend the Albert division, and acknowledged the work started by his immediate predecessor, Espat, in that regard.
“This is not even a race; this will be a sprint,” he confidently declared of his matchup with Herman Longsworth, the UDP candidate.
Party leader Francis Fonseca paid tribute to the work of Espat and Hyde and stated that ill feeling and resentment, particularly at Espat’s sudden departure, “is not in my DNA” with regard to the two ex-representatives (adding that Hyde had called and spoken with him personally on the day he resigned, though Espat has yet to do so).
He added that the party is now ready to move forward in both divisions, which he expects will be returned to the PUP on March 7.
Asked by KREM Radio’s Marisol Amaya to respond to what she called questions “in some quarters” as to whether the recent changes in the party suggest a return to leadership by the so-called “Old Guard” of the party, Fonseca acknowledged that while the PUP’s past administrations have not been “perfect,” “this election is about the future, not the past,” and accused the un-named questioners referred to by Amaya of having “their own agenda.”
This morning’s National Executive meeting also passed a resolution pledging continued support for Fonseca as leader, and approved a draft of the party’s manifesto of plans and projects to be taken on if elected, which is soon to be presented nationally.