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End of quote. But what the statement does not discuss is that most confounding question: Why? Why would an ambitious, professional, politician, eminently qualified to lead, and with near unanimous support simply walk away from a leadership that was all but his?

Jules Vasquez examines it in this report:

When Mark Espat stood beside John Briceno eleven days ago - as the leader resigned. All in PUP land expected his ascension to leader to be axiomatic and almost automatic.

And sure enough, near unanimous support came in from all four caucuses - in the end he had 30 of 31 seats supporting him - unprecedented support for any PUP leader - ever.

And he walked away today. The reason? Money. The PUP owes over five million dollars and would need another eight or ten million dollars to run the next two campaigns in 17 months.

From the outset, Espat told all the executive members and standard bearers that he would not offer himself for leader unless there was a clear way to raise this money - in other words he didn't want to play in a game that he didn't have a fair chance fo winning.

In a letter to those standard bearers today, he said "You will recall that in our conversations and meetings during the past several days, we spoke openly about the circumstances under which I would accept this important nomination. Unfortunately, these conditions do not now exist."

The do not exist because it is widely held that such millions could only come from the Ashcroft Alliance - but it seems Espat was unprepared to meet that group's demands - which were sure to be stringent after having been burned by former and present prime ministers.

So now, who will lead the PUP? The unelected, unproven Arthur Saldivar is not considered a credible option, Said Musa today told us he is not offering himself, but said he would support Francis Fonseca. Whether he will do it after losing his bid doe the post in 2008 is what now remains to be seen.

And so will Francis Fonseca take up the post? We tried to contact him today but got no answer. But, it is widely felt that as the consummate team player Fonseca will be pressed into service. And while he lost his leadership bid in 2008 and was passed over for interim leader two weeks ago, in a sense, Fonseca's political career has been defined by dutifulness, and - it is felt - he is now almost duty bound to come to the rescue of his party - which, for all intents and purposes has been left in the lurch.

As we noted in the story, Said Musa today told us he will not offer himself but would support Fonseca -and it is almost certain that Francis Fonseca's cousin, Ralph would support him - which could help to alleviate the party's distressed financial state. Fonseca did not answer our calls or our text messages requesting comment.

The deadline for the submission of nominations for leader is tomorrow. But whoever takes up the mantle of leadership - they'll have more than just money problems to contend with. In the letter sent out to standard bearers and the executive today, Espat warned that the very culture of the party is in jeopardy. He said, and we quote, "the Party needs, more than anything else, to bridge the alarming chasm between the priorities of big donors, on the one hand, and those of its supporters, on the other…"

He cautioned that, quote, "donors and voters will compete for the attention of the political leaders; however, for a political party to tackle the prevailing national challenges…greater attention needs to be paid to the voters and lesser attention to the donors." And in closing, he says, quote:

"I urge you - break this cycle of decline.."

And his candid letter also warns that the "Party's electioneering and operational machinery" are not "battle-ready."