A month ago, there was a public eruption of discontent in the PUP, after 2 prominent candidates, Jason Patrick Andrews and Arthur Saldivar, were disqualified from running in this Sunday's Belmopan convention. Andrews, the former PUP candidate in the capital, said that he would grudgingly live with the decision.
Arthur Saldivar wasn't so accommodating, and he said in a Facebook Town Hall meeting that he was going to sue the PUP, to try and reverse the decision from its vetting committee.
He proved that this was no idle threat when his attorney, Christophe Rodriguez, filed his claim a few weeks ago. It has landed on the desk of Justice Shona Griffith, who scheduled an injunction hearing today. They want the Judge to stop the PUP from holding its convention, while the court decides whether Saldivar's disqualification was justified.
That couldn't happen today because the attorneys have to prepare written submissions on the injunction application for court. It basically became procedural at the end, but there has been a significant development coming out of today's hearing.
The PUP has given an undertaking to the judge that they will postpone this Sunday's convention. As far as we know, this is a first since the court normally stays out of internal party politics.
Our news team was at the Supreme court today, and we got a chance to speak with Saldivar about today's outcome, and his reasons for taking on an uphill battle. Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
Arthur Saldivar strutted out of Court this morning, into the warm embrace of his PUP supporters from Belmopan. At today's hearing, he successfully kept his candidacy for the Belmopan Standard Bearer Convention alive, even if it is currently on life-support.
He has managed to convince Justice Shona Griffith to grant him an audience, so that he can challenge his disqualification by his party's leadership.
Additionally, the convention, planned for this Sunday, the one which he would not have been allowed to participate in, has been postponed, the first time - as far as we know - that something like this has happened. Small victories really, but most cynical onlookers thought that his lawsuit would be summarily dismissed as frivolous, after 1 - maybe 2- hearings.
Arthur Saldivar - Suing the PUP
"Why do you have to make it so long and complicated for the people to understand? The immediate effect is that there is no convention on Sunday."
Respecting the authority of the court, the Leadership of the party which manages affairs like the running of conventions, has given the court an undertaking - a very strong promise really - that Sunday's convention has been put off.
Next Week Friday, the court will hear his attorney, Christophe Rodriguez, on why she should give an interim injunction, which makes this postponement indefinite, until his lawsuit is heard and disposed of.
Arthur Saldivar
"An Injunction is an interim remedy, Marisol. It only follows upon a substantive claim. The claim has been filed long ago, and the claim is about establishing my validity as a member of the People's United Party. Certain trustees within the party were saying that my membership should be in some way qualified."
If he can convince the judge to grant the injunction, then the real challenge begins. He will have to convince the court that his party's leadership acted arbitrarily and unfairly by refusing to allow him to run.
Reporter
"If the court were not to grant that injunction, what's going to happen? Are you going to give up as was..."
Arthur Saldivar
"Let's not deal with if's and suppositions. You see, if's and suppositions are the bastions of the insecure, and I've never been an insecure person, as you notice."
He and his supporters made an important distinction. They say they are not taking action against their party. They say that the PUP supporters are the party, and Saldivar is suing the trustees of the party - meaning the leadership.
Arthur Saldivar
"My action is not an action against my party. It is my party. We have trustees of the party, and those trustees are elected by the members of the party, as are these, my supporters, behind me, who have faith that they will uphold the constitution, principles and values of the party. So, we are only here to ensure that those principles and rights enshrined by the constitution of the Party that George Price created are maintained."
But is being a standard bearer for a mass party really worth all this hassle?
Daniel Ortiz
"Why fight something like that? It seems rather onerous and to those of us who are not politically affiliated, not worth it."
Arthur Saldivar
"I believe you were up there. You saw what happened. This is not a futile effort. If it were, we would have been laughed out court, as was expected. Don't you think? So, you know that this is a situation that certainly has credence, credibility and seriousness about it."
For my entire adult life, I have been identified as a member of the People's United Party, and I have identified myself and put myself out to be a member. I will not turn my back on what I have sowed. I will continue to sow the second constructive Belizean revolution, until I am no more.
And of course, Arthur Saldivar wouldn't be Arthur Saldivar, if he didn't try to get some political mileage out of the public attention his lawsuit is getting.
Arthur Saldivar
"Well, what happened in court today was not that important, Hipolito. It's what's happening out here that's important. Presently, we are having a situation where gas prices are way out of control, fuel prices way out of control. Unemployment is out of control. The crime situation, but in Belmopan, all these things are problems too. And this is the reason why I'm flanked by the people behind me because they want me to be able to address these concerns."
"I want to be able to represent people. I want my people to be given a chance to choose between me and anybody else that want to run in a convention in Belmopan."
The attorneys representing the PUP for this lawsuit are Andrew Marshalleck, Said Musa and Gavin Courtenay. We contacted both Opposition Leader John Briceno and Party Chairman Henry Charles Usher for comment. Briceno pointed us in the direction of the Party Chairman, who declined comment saying that the matter is before the court.
The only other case in recent memory similar to this one is that of Zenaida Moya who sued the UDP back in 2009 in an attempt to prevent its National Party Council and its Central Executive from taking disciplinary action against her. She was at risk of being expelled after she alleged that Prime Minister Dean Barrow "sicced" the DPP after her.
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