Kremandala, the child of UBAD, is not involved in the power struggle presently taking place within the Opposition People’s United Party.
The newly elected PUP Leader, Hon. Johnny Briceño, finds himself surrounded by a national executive which is overwhelmingly loyal to the faction which Briceño defeated on Sunday, March 30, in a PUP leadership convention. So Mr. Briceño will be holding a party convention this Sunday in Orange Walk Town to install an executive which will work along with him.
The reason the March 30 losing faction is fighting back this week against the new PUP Leader is because they don’t want to give up their ownership and control of the PUP’s headquarters, newspaper and radio station, which have all been privatized in the last 15 years. (Guess who?)
One of the reasons the PUP began to lose popularity with the people of Belize was the fact that the PUP leadership were ignoring the party’s philosophy. All the pre-Johnny leadership cared about was money and power. The PUP became a party of personalities rather than philosophy.
In the beginning of the PUP in 1950, the personalities and the party philosophy were one. At least, so it seemed. In 2008, that was clearly not the case. That is why the Briceño group won on March 30, and the Fonseca group lost. The delegates of the PUP felt that the Briceño group was more true to the party philosophy.
The reason Kremandala, for a poor, black institution, is still strong, is because we have basically remained true to the original UBAD philosophy – power to the people. Can you dig it?