The People’s United Party (PUP) has been the dominant party, winning the vast majority of elections in Belize since ordinary citizens first started going to the polls in the 1950’s. It is, therefore, with great interest and concern that the nation watches to see who will rise to take the place of Said Musa as party leader – the highest-ranking post in the party.
By virtue of our two-party system, even though the PUP lost miserably at the polls, the party does form the Opposition for the next five years. Even as the party in government has the monumental and sacred mandate of ensuring that they run public affairs prudently and with the public interest at heart, the Opposition, too, plays an important role—or at least it should—if the proper checks and balance in the system are to be in effect.
The Opposition will play very little role in the House of Representatives, since the ruling United Democratic Party doesn’t need a single “aye” from them to pass any bill, motion or resolution it wants to. Nonetheless, a strong Opposition is needed, more so in the Senate, where, under the model of the Barrow administration, they will have a block of three seats and will, together with the social partners, outweigh the ruling UDP.
A strong Opposition and proper checks and balance in the Senate are paramount in holding the Barrow administration accountable for the mandate bestowed by the people of Belize on February 7, 2008, and for ensuring greater transparency.
The current political debate surrounding PUP leadership should really go beyond the personalities and beyond partisan politics. It is simpleminded to view this PUP transformation as a mere change in PUP leadership. We should focus on the bigger picture, which somehow always seems to escape the so-called political pundits who try to distract us with small talk.
Of greater importance than who will lead the PUP, is the question of who will lead a fierce and vigilant Opposition over the next five years. It is from this perspective that the leadership journey inside the PUP becomes national business, and by extension, Amandala’s business.
The man chosen in the March 30 PUP special convention will not just be the PUP party leader, but, provided that he is an elected official (as would be the case with prospective leaders, Francis Fonseca, Johnny Briceño or Mark Espat), he would also become the Leader of the Opposition. His role would be of immense national importance—a role so important that the very Prime Minister will have to consult him in respect of certain public sector appointments. A lot of responsibility is vested in Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, as evidenced by the fact that the PUP also gets to put their man or woman as chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
It is common knowledge that one of the candidates, Mark Espat, is the son-in-law of Amandala’s publisher and owner, Evan X Hyde. So in addition to this being a matter of national interest, there is no escaping the reality that this is also a matter of personal interest for us.
That confession aside, we underscore the fact that it was the voters of Albert who re-elected Mark Espat to office on February 7, giving him his third back-to-back term. We were not among those who voted in the Albert. Many of our readers did, though, and it was their vote of confidence that sent Espat back to the House of Representatives—by the widest margin of any PUP victor who ran in the elections.
True, at the end of the day the PUP insiders will decide who their leader will be, but we have a duty to inform those PUPs who read our paper—and there are tens of thousands of them—of what has been transpiring with the selection process.
We know that there are some inside the PUP who think that the independent media should stay out of their PUP business, but internal PUP politics must continue to form part of the national debate, and consequently, the debate in our newssheets. It is a matter of sheer necessity and responsibility to our readers.
Must we emphasize that some key people inside the PUP got insanely wealthy, and the wealthy ones got wealthier, off the people’s money? Shouldn’t those who pay the piper, then, call the tune? So why is “Mr. Sankey” singing a different song today? As we saw on February 7, all power belongs to the united people, and not to the PUP.