What is even more sensational is that the two new ministers have been recruited as deputy campaign managers, which means that they would be rallying the masses to support the People?s United Party?s candidates in the upcoming municipal elections in 2006 and possibly the general elections in 2008.
The two will be deputies to none other than Hon. Ralph Fonseca, the PUP?s campaign manager, with whom the two have been at odds over public spending for several months, leading up to the G-7 rebellion and their later exile from Cabinet.
Both Hyde and Espat left Cabinet last December 28, but under different circumstances. Musa booted Espat from his Cabinet and Hyde left, citing a pact that a Group of 7 (G-7) ministers had, coming out of their rebellion of last August. Hyde said that he had left Cabinet on principle.
The biggest question that has been asked since the news of their return broke is why are they going back? This evening, we asked both of them that question:
Espat replied: ?…the question for me is really how can I best serve my country and how can I best serve my constituents. Can I do so as a backbencher or can I do so as a member of Cabinet, and after consultation with my constituency committee and many people in my division, and many others in a wide cross-section of our society, I have concluded that I can make more of a difference as a member of Cabinet.?
?Well, I didn?t quit on December 28thof last year and I didn?t resign [from the PUP],? Hyde said. ?I just simply declined the Prime Minister?s offer to be in his Cabinet on matters of principle and my constituents understood and supported me? It hasn?t been easy. It has been very difficult for everybody involved? difficult in a material sense. Not much has been going on in the Southside before that. And so with the only two ministerial representatives on the Southside no longer in Cabinet, it was difficult on our constituencies; not enough projects, jobs were lost, you know. We tried to maintain as best we could all the programs we had going, programs with our schools, with our more disadvantaged constituents, it wasn?t always easy??
Now that Espat and Hyde are going back to Cabinet, will they lap their tails and toe Musa and Fonseca?s line?
?I think over the last 10 months, what Cordel and I have said is that this system is not one where we are straw men and straw women. We are not on the backbench to do anything but to be a check and balance. If we don?t agree with the budget we are not going to support it,? Espat said.
?And do you continue being that check and balance, do you continue taking that stand even as you go back to Cabinet?? we asked.
?Well, Adele, the role of a Cabinet minister is different?? he replied. ?I will be the first to admit that as a Minister of Government, you are certainly more constrained with your public remarks than as a backbencher. So I cannot come to the media and say, well the Cabinet has agreed to this but I didn?t agree. If that?s the position I take, then the tenet of collective responsibility requires me to resign, and that is always an option for me, I am not taking that off the table.?
For his part, Hyde said, ?I?m not going back shying away from the reforms that we?ve embraced before. We need to continue to agitate and we?ll agitate more aggressively for campaign finance reform, for instance, because I feel like this business where you have one or two persons being far more important and having more say than 300,000 people is downright ridiculous. And I think that the only way you can combat and mitigate the special interests and special influence that some of these sacred cows have is by full disclosure??
Other questions that have been raised by the public are, why did Hyde and Espat not go the way of a third party or running as independent candidates? Our information is that they have been in long talks with third party hopefuls, but with them going back to Cabinet, those talks have been set aside. Both Espat and Hyde indicated that there was overwhelming response from their constituents that they should either ?go blue or new.? However, they both expressed the sentiment that the PUP is the most practical way to go at this time.
?The concept of a new party, no doubt, emanates from the frustration of people across political lines, that neither the red nor the blue on the political menu are sufficing their hopes and their expectations for Belize,? said Espat. ?I traveled to all six districts, I spoke to a lot of people over the last 10 months and I feel honored, in a way, that many people were looking to Cordel and I as it relates to a new political movement. We will challenge the PUP to go back to its roots, to live by its creed, to take its aims and its objectives seriously. If there is not a new PUP in short order, then there will be a new party.?
Hyde echoed his sentiments, saying that if the two parties don?t change, a third party emergence would be inevitable, sooner rather than later. He also expressed the sentiment that running with a third party is not a viable option at the time.
A fascinating aspect of the story is how these two rebel ministers are going to convince voters to go the PUP way.
?As one of the leaders of the campaign over the next four months, you?ll be encouraging people to vote blue when in fact the administration is perceived to be more corrupt than ever. How do you go about doing that?? we asked Hyde.
?Good question,? he responded.
?Obviously there?s been great loss of faith and confidence. Are you and Mr. Espat going to bring back that confidence for them [the PUP]?? we probed further.
?First of all, I think we have a robust team, particularly in Belize City, and we?ll try to replicate that in other areas of the country? You have to understand the organizational ballast and the discipline and the successes of the PUP in the past? they are a viable pick in any election, so I think that we?ll be in it. This is not the best of times for the PUP. It?s not the best foot we could put forward.?
?How do you convince voters in light of everything that has happened, especially recently, that the PUP is the way to go?? we questioned.
?The PUP has shown by inviting us back into the Cabinet that they are prepared to try to change, that they are prepared to try and rejuvenate themselves. I?m sure the Prime Minister must have gotten ton loads of calls to expel us over the last four months?? was Hyde?s response.
Both men said that in inviting the two of them back to Cabinet, P.M. Musa has shown ?political courage? and ?tremendous maturity.? But is Musa signaling change by the decision to bring them back, or merely using them to win votes the upcoming municipal elections?
?Aren?t you concerned that, perhaps, you?re just being used to get votes in the municipal elections and in the general elections? Doesn?t that concern you?? we asked.
?Of course, it would concern anyone if they are just being used,? Espat relied. ?I think I am being given a genuine opportunity to impact on Government to impact on my constituency. I am a member of the People?s United Party at this time. I want to continue to challenge the party to do better and that?s the reason that I have said yes.?
What do Hyde and Espat have to say to all those Belizeans who are extremely disappointed in their decision?
?This decision was the hardest that I?ve had to make in my political career,? Hyde responded. ?It was much harder than the decision that I made on December 28th. I didn?t reach this point easily, as I?ve said, we?ve had months of conversation and discussion before we reached this point, and we did it after much consultation with our constituents primarily? we have not somehow turned lambs, and we have not somehow lost track of the ideals and the ideas and issues that we have embraced over the last few months; we are even more committed to those.?
Espat?s remark was that, ?I will work doubly hard to try and show them that for me, it will be a chance to impact on the areas of Government that I?m responsible for and to try and continue to work on my constituency? I hope that the work we will be able to do will allow them to overcome that skepticism.?
Today?s Cabinet changes expand Musa?s Cabinet from 9 to 11. There are 2 ministers without portfolios and five ministers of State. Hyde has gained Housing from Hon. Sylvia Flores, Youth and Sports from Hon. Francis Fonseca, and Defense from Hon. Vildo Marin. Espat has gained Investment, a portfolio formerly held by Ralph Fonseca up until the July Cabinet reshuffle. He has also gained National Development from Prime Minister and Culture from Hon. Francis Fonseca.
Last August, 2004, when the seven ministers resigned and were reappointed to Cabinet, they returned on an uneasy truce. That seems to be the same sentiment from them today.
?This is not a happy ending. This is an uneasy arrangement at best. The struggle continues,? Hyde told us.
Seemingly, it will be particularly uneasy, since the two will return to work directly under Hon. Ralph Fonseca, who still has heavy influence in Cabinet and who runs the party?s political campaign machinery.
When Hyde, Espat and the G-7 resigned last August, one of their main calls was for Fonseca?s removal, not just as the Minister of Finance, but also from Cabinet. While Fonseca was deposed as Finance Minister, Musa kept him in Cabinet.
According to GOB?s release today, Espat assumes responsibility for various aspects of Belize?s economic development agenda, including Social Investment Fund and Basic Needs Trust Fund projects, investment promotion, as well as responsibility for export processing zones and commercial free zones.
?As Minister of Defense, Housing Sports and Youth, Hon. Cordel Hyde will take responsibility for the Southside development projects ? a major component of which will be low cost, affordable housing, infrastructural improvement and urban renewal,? the statement added.