First is the matter of the Leader Of The Opposition in the House of Representatives. There is none tonight and none will be in place for tomorrow's house meeting. That's right. Despite the fancies of the PUP National Executive, the fact remains that three of the six PUP Members of the House, John Briceno, Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde have told the Governor General that they do not support Said Musa as Parliamentary Leader Of The Opposition.
Musa does not have a majority of support, so - in his deliberate judgment - the Governor General has decided that he will not name a leader for tomorrow's meeting.
We spoke to Musa today who was exasperated. He told us that his colleagues -don't want a leader of the opposition and called it "tragic."
He said that in any case he would only be Leader Of The Opposition in the parliament for a week. Well now, it appears he won't.
We do know that efforts were made by the Opposition to appeal directly to the clerk of the National Assembly to adjust the seating on the opposition bench but those appeals were resisted - because again, it is a decision reserved for the Governor General.
Moving on, the next issue is Fonseca's support across the party - particularly from Immediate Past Leader John Briceno, Interim Leader Mark Espat and Senior Deputy Cordel Hyde.
Fonseca said the presence of Jaime Briceno - who is John's brother and an executive member in his own right - at this morning's meeting was to signal John Briceno's support. John Briceno this evening told us via text message that, quote "Jaime made it clear that he was not speaking for me." So John Briceno's support has not been made clear.
As for Mark Espat - Fonseca also counted his support, but Espat told us today, also via text, quote: "I learned of Francis's
endorsement via email this afternoon. Of course, I wish him well and look forward to hearing his plan to free the party from the grip and presence of those responsible for its electoral woes."
Long story short on that one?: Espat wants Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca out of the party - as he believes they were responsible for the party's resounding defeat in 2008.
To get the full meaning of that - we'd have to take you back to that meeting at Said Musa's King's Park residence yesterday when we saw the vehicles of two prominent financiers, Mike Feinstein being one as well as Ralph Fonseca and Julius Espat's vehicles.
Julius Espat made his candidacy known after that meeting - and we now know that candidacy was just a place-holder part of what might be called a "hand-set play" until Francis Fonseca came along. In fact, obviously the candidacy of Julius's cousin Mike Espat was a part of that, and for that matter, so was Arthur Saldivar's.
Saldivar was not even at today's meeting to withdraw his candidacy, his handler Max Samuels did it for him - which now exposes that Saldivar's candidacy was, as we had said from the outset, a farce and a set up - and we will make the editorial comment that after all that bluster and effrontery he put on, the fact that he was not there today to defend or explain himself is shameful, but, sadly, not surprising.
And finally, the money. Party Chairman Henry Charles Usher called us out for saying the Holy Redeemer Credit Union had loaned 440 thousand dollars to the PUP - and indeed it had not, it loaned the money to Party Treasurer Julius Espat, who in his own right borrowed it on the party's behalf and it was presented to the party at last week's executive meeting as part of the PUP's debt. Indeed, it is secured and serviced by Espat - but last we checked, he isn't operating a political charity.
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