And so while the next leader of the PUP has a big job ahead - don't look around for help from the former leader, John Briceno.
He's heading for the exits and fast. 7news has confirmed that Briceno has written to the Governor General saying that he is stepping down as the Parliamentary Leader Of The Opposition.
That means that at Friday's House Sitting, Briceno will not sit in the first seat on the opposition side, which is reserved for the leader. The question now is, who will? It is no small matter, because formally, the country is without a leader of the opposition, which is a dire state in any democracy.
It is, to our knowledge, the very first time in Belize's Parliamentary history that a leader of the opposition has unilaterally stepped down - with no immediate successor in place.
It is a virtual certainty that senior Deputy Espat will not step into that position, and again, it seems to be left to Senior Deputy Francis Fonseca - but again, that is only speculation. Fonseca is - we are informed - considering his options and not jumping into anything.
Constitutionally, the Governor General can appoint as leader the person who commands a majority of support on the opposition side, or commands the support of the largest group.
But that is a nuanced exercise - and so it is unlikely anything will be done before Friday's meeting - particularly since the PUP has scheduled a National Party Council meeting to select a new leader on October 29th.
Still, any four members can get together and support a new leader to be sworn in before Friday - so we'll wait and see if that happens.
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