BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 2, 2018– The People’s United Party constituency convention to select a standard bearer to represent Belmopan in the next general election has been put on hold until the end of this month, when the re-registration exercise is completed.

That, however, has not reduced the intensity of a fight within the PUP to lock out an attorney, Arthur Saldivar, from the Belmopan standard bearer race.

After Saldivar took the PUP to court in late June over their rejection of his candidacy in the convention, the convention was postponed and he was invited to re-submit his application for consideration by the party’s vetting committee.

Saldivar, it appears, has complied and filed a new application. The claim that he brought against his party is over, and the court has decided in his favor after the five members of the PUP executive named in the lawsuit failed to submit a written defense in time. The defendants were supposed to file a defense by July 27, and that was not done.

Today, Thursday, we tried to speak to PUP leader Hon. John Briceño and attorneys Eamon Courtenay, S.C., and Andrew Marshalleck, S.C., but were unsuccessful. However, we were able to speak to attorney Said Musa, S.C., who told us that he was not aware that the attorneys had not filed a defense in time.

On Tuesday night, the television evening newscasts aired an interview with PUP senator and legal advisor, Eamon Courtenay, one of the persons named in Saldivar’s lawsuit, and it doesn’t look like Saldivar is making progress with his latest application.

Courtenay did not mince words when he declared, near the end of the interview, “What Mr. Saldivar does not want to accept is that we do not want him. That is what he should get in his head; that we do not want him as one of our candidates. He can come to court as many times as he wants. At the end of the day he will not represent the party, even if I have to sue him.”

When Courtenay was asked about Saldivar’s lawsuit, he replied: “I am a victim of Mr. Saldivar’s misguided legal claim. I do not understand, and I speak for myself, why it is that Mr. Saldivar believes that he has a right to represent a party where a party doesn’t want him to represent us? His coming to court to force a political party to make a legal decision in his favor, in my view, I hope, will never prevail. He is not a fit and proper person to represent the People’s United Party, and if the People’s United Party choose him as a candidate, then I will sue and challenge him to represent the party, since litigation is where this is all going to end up.”

Courtenay was asked, “What about the argument that it is the people that should decide?”

“Well, he can run as an independent [candidate],” Courtenay replied.

Today, Wednesday, August 1, “The Committee to elect Arthur Saldivar” fired off a press release signed by its chairperson, Glenise Williams.

The release said, “The Constituents of Belmopan and the Committee to Elect Arthur Saldivar were shocked and appalled by the disgusting display of arrogance, contempt and disregard for propriety, discipline and unity exhibited by PUP Legal Advisor Eamon Courtenay last night on various news media.”

The release added, “He chose to attack the most viable candidate in the Belmopan PUP race. This action speaks volumes; it was unwarranted and misguided and exposes a deep-rooted rot that has been infecting our Party and Belmopan constituency for over a decade.”

The release goes on to list Agripino Cawich and Sam Waight as two Belmopan PUP candidates who were disliked by the elites of the PUP, which set out to undermine their candidacy in Belmopan.

Continuing, the release said, “This is 2018 and our Party has been in opposition for 10 years, the vast majority of the country and supporters of the PUP are suffering due to the policies of this ruling UDP government, but not Eamon Courtney.”

“Therefore, we call on the Party Leader to intervene and stop this charade that is being engineered solely by Eamon Courtney and his immature and personal vendetta,” said the committee’s press release.

The release further stated, “Last night’s display exposes the fact that his issue is petty and personal and has nothing to do with enhancing the Party’s chances of winning the upcoming general elections in Belmopan. As members of the People’s United Party, we believe that it is the members and voters at convention who are the ultimate decision-making body to determine which candidate is ‘fit and proper’ to represent us, not anyone whose actions speak against the best interest of our Party.

“If Courtney feels strongly about his position, there is nothing stopping him from applying to run in Belmopan in the convention against our candidate. We would welcome his participation. Until then, he should respect the constitution of our Party and abide by its rules, like everyone else.”

Saldivar’s supporters have gone one step further; they are inviting Courtenay to participate in Saldivar’s “town hall meeting” that he hosts on his Facebook page. Saldivar is the first politician in Belize to begin using social media in a live format to get his message out. The “town hall meetings” have an average listening audience of two thousand, and are held on Thursday nights.

The committee’s release ends, saying, “It is 2018, democracy is alive and well … Belmopan will determine who is ‘fit and proper’ to represent Belmopan.”