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Last week when Jason Patrick Andrews and Arthur Saldivar were disqualified from contesting the Belmopan convention, both men were very critical of their party's leadership. Today, we asked Briceno to explain his party's decision to reject their candidacy:

Hon. John Briceno, PUP Party Leader
"The recommendations have been, when it comes to Mr. Andrews is that they believe that Mr. Andrews needs to do more work for the party. After the election Mr. Andrews for whatever reason decided to leave the country and then just came back before a convention and if he was so interested in the work of the party and wanting to promote the work of the party, that he should have stayed here and work with the local executive in Belmopan and so I think that is one of the reasons why he was not recommended."

"As to Mr. Saldivar, the vetting committee brought to our attention that in 2015 Mr. Saldivar was suspended from the party and as such they had no authority to review his application. That application was sent directly to the national executive and at the national executive it is was discussed and we agreed that we can remove the suspension, but we want to give him a probationary period of 2 years, to see the kind of work that he does for the party, how engage he is and how he is working in the party and his community and so in 2 years' time, if we believe that he has met all what we have asked of him, then Mr. Saldivar is welcome to run anywhere in this party including for the leader of the party."

So, what about Arthur Saldivar's harsh condemnation of Briceno's leadership of the PUP? You'll remember that in his Facebook Town Hall meeting he said, quote, "the head is rotting in the PUP."

Here's how Briceno answered that one:

Hon. John Briceno, PUP Party Leader
"Well I will quickly accept that as the leader of the party I am ultimately responsible for everything that happens in this party and if Mr. Saldivar would not be so personal and look at the work that the party has been doing and the successes that we've had in the last municipal elections - that everyone will tell you that the PUP is poised to win the next national elections."

"I know he is hurt. He has supported me. He did not vote in the last national convention, but he publicly supported me. So maybe he feels that I should have done more for him and that's okay and I accept that and there is no hard feelings from my part."

Last night, we also told you about the tense situation in the Albert Division as well. The two camps there - one for SENATOR Paul Thompson, and the other for SENATOR Valerie Woods - got into a major dispute during the vetting of the voter's list for that convention on Friday night.

It's always a conflict when deciding whose names should stay on, and who should be taken off, but as we told you, Jermyn Galvez, a member of Woods' camp, accused Candidate Paul Thompson, of threatening his life. He even went as far as to make a police report on it, forcing the Party Chairman to step in and settle the matter.

Today, the Opposition Leader told us that he wished that there wouldn't be so much infighting about these matters:

Hon. John Briceno, PUP Party Leader
"That shows the level of excitement and energy that the PUP is developing and it shows that people really want to be a part of the PUP. It shows that people believe we are going to form the next government. That's why they are fighting tooth and nail to try to win. I wish we could tone it down a bit. Mt recommendation have always been guys let's not be personal, go out there do a positive campaign. But you will always have people that you can't control as best as you wish. It's a part of politics. It's a part of the contact sports as we would say. We wish it would not be as that, but I am very excited about the Albert Division, because they have always said that it is UDP division. But I firmly believe that any of those 2 candidates that are elected on June 17th, will be the next area representative in Albert."

Later on in the news, we'll show you more from Briceno's press conference.