At the 1994 PUP national convention held at Baker?s Ranch (near Sand Hill), however, there would have been a serious dispute on the floor, had the disagreements not been resolved behind closed doors at Independence Hall the Saturday afternoon before the Sunday convention. As a result of that Independence Hall meeting, essentially to share the power, the party presented a united front to its members and supporters the following day at Baker?s Ranch.

There is presently a fairly serious dispute inside of the ruling PUP, and it appears to me that the party can not and will not allow the disagreements to take place in front of, and to involve, party members and supporters. So the likelihood is that the infighting will continue until just before the national convention, when the principals will meet, behind closed doors. This is what some in the PUP refer to as ?guided democracy.?

The purpose of this column, which is being written before dawn on Tuesday morning, is to give you a precise read on where we are right now. There were a couple very interesting incidents which took place at high levels within the PUP last week, and later today it is expected that these incidents may actually become dramas. A lot depends on how the Prime Minister decides to play it, it being the case that he has most of the cards. I would therefore have wanted to wait until later in the week to write this column, but I have a deadline to meet. So.

Now among the members and supporters of the People?s United Party, I have absolutely no influence. These are party faithful, true believers who only listen to what their party leaders say, and only believe what they read in THE BELIZE TIMES.

Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde are leaders of two of the PUP?s twenty nine constituencies, so they have power within their respective constituencies. Evan X Hyde is an outsider.

I have never told you this before, but in 1993 Dame Minita Gordon lost her job as Governor General because of appointing me as the Governor General?s Senator in the 1993?1998 National Assembly. The newly elected UDP were enraged, and replaced Dame Minita with Sir Colville Young. The UDP became enraged at Dame Minita?s appointment because they had someone else in mind as Governor General?s Senator in 1993.

I will not comment any more on this matter. You will now have to begin reading between the lines. At the highest of levels in the PUP, after the 1993 general election, it was decided to have yours truly become the Lake Independence standard bearer to replace Carlos Diaz, who had lost two out of three times (1984, 1993) to the UDP?s Hubert Elrington. I had no political ambitions. Had I accepted the offer, it would have been the second time the PUP lured me out of political retirement. (The PUP in 1977 partly pressured, partly persuaded me to come out of my 1974 retirement. The result was a personal disaster for myself in the 1977 Belize City Council election.)

In late 1993 or early 1994, Cordel Hyde agreed to take on the challenge of competing for PUP Lake Independence leadership, and the PUP big wigs acquiesced. I think it was myself they really wanted, because then Kremandala would have been compromised politically. But what I think on this matter is not that important in 2004.

History is now history. History is Cordel Hyde becoming the first man to win Lake I in consecutive general elections ? 1998 and 2003.

Kremandala?s ultimate loyalty is to the people of the nation/state of Belize. It was partly as a result of what we experienced in the immediate aftermath of the December 1977 BCC election, that we broke with the PUP in late 1980 and began fighting against them in March of 1981.

Between 1980 and 1981, we learned that it is very, very difficult for us to remain neutral in Belize?s party politics. My point is that we are in a delicate situation on Partridge Street as I write ? Tuesday, December 28, 2004. It is clear that the bulk of UDP leadership is hostile to us, even as Partridge ?has issues? with the present PUP administration. Kremandala is definitely now being viewed as an enemy by the Hon. Ralph Fonseca, and Hon. Ralph is a PUP icon. If he chooses to attack us ?full metal jacket?, as it now appears he will, we can only defend ourselves from outside the PUP. There?s a sinister little thing being done at various levels in the PUP. They are saying that Kremandala is the leader of the G-7. This is clever propaganda. There was one large issue on which Kremandala and G-7 had the same opinion -?the handling of Belize?s public finances had blown up our deficit to the point where Belize was playing with a fiscal suicide bomb. Corrective measures had to be taken. To link Kremandala with G-7 is to smear G-7 in the eyes of PUP members and supporters. Do you ?check the play??

On Partridge Street, the reason we are independent of the party politics is because of the support given to us by you, the people. We are not on the PUP?s payroll. PUP ?no mind we.?

Amandala. Power to the people.