Arthur Saldivar, the embattled PUP politician who wants an opportunity to run in his party’s standard bearer convention for Belmopan, has been refused a second time. In response, Saldivar will bring a second lawsuit against the PUP on the premise that the vetting committee, which reviews applications from potential candidates, did not afford him the fair opportunity to be properly assessed.
Viewers will remember that early in July, the PUP, whose leadership was being sued by Saldivar, relaxed from their hardline that Saldivar was disqualified from the Belmopan convention. Henry Charles Usher, the PUP’s Chairman, swore to an affidavit before Justice Shona Griffith, that the Belmopan convention would be postponed until the end of the August, and that the application process would be re-opened. The chairman further promised the court in that sworn testimony that Saldivar’s application for the convention would be considered, as if the disciplinary actions and suspension against him never occurred. You’ll remember that these were the reasons why Saldivar was disqualified the first time around.
Well, Saldivar is asserting that this fair opportunity was never afforded to him as was promised. His attorney, Elena De Silva, from a Trinidadian law firm, wrote a letter yesterday to Chairman Usher, and in it, the attorney outlines why it is that Saldivar will bring a second claim against the party.
The letter states that on or around July 5th, Saldivar’s previous attorney raised the issue that from their perspective, there is an actual or apparent bias against Saldivar because the Vetting Committee Chairman, Leni-Joe Usher, is the mother of Chairman Henry Charles Usher, who was a named party in the first lawsuit. The contention is that she would not be able to judge his candidacy impartially, and if you accept Saldivar’s chronology of events, then their concerns were valid.
Elena Da Silva wrote, that on July 26, the vetting committee held a meeting with Saldivar as part of the vetting process for his second application. Da Silva says that in that meeting, Chairman Leni-Joe Usher, quote, “…played an active and overpowering role in the course of the meeting. Moreover, Ms. Usher expressed that she was overcome by emotion having regard to our Client’s continuing legal action against the PUP. She further stated that she was hurt by the said action because it was her contention our Client had hurt the Party, and therefore, by extension he had hurt her. Ms. Usher further stated that she was not fit to be the Chairperson of the Vetting Committee because of the feelings she held and the way she felt about our Client and his actions against the Party.” End quote.
Da Silva said that despite Chairman Leni-Joe’s alleged acknowledgement of bias, she did not recuse herself from vetting Saldivar’s application, and that she sought to rehash Saldivar’s suspension from the party back in September 2014. As you are aware, that wasn’t the way it was supposed to play out, because PUP Chairman Henry Charles Usher promised the Supreme Court that all disciplinary actions against Saldivar would not factor in his second application process.
Da Silva’s letter went on to say that Saldivar attempted to remind Chairman Leni-Joe of this binding undertaking from her son as Chairman of the PUP, and that she was, quote, “incredulous that the Party’s Chairman gave such an undertaking in his affidavit as according to her, he could not by himself decide on National Executive matters and that she had not met with him (the Chairman) on this issue.” End quote.
That meeting lasted for 2 hours, and Saldivar’s attorney describes it more like an exercise in futility, which was confirmed when the committee rendered a judgment to disqualify him a second time.
That judgment read, “It is the decision of the Committee that your application be denied for a number of reasons, including but not limited to your public statements and actions and especially your legal claim, which you continue to pursue despite the fact that your application was accepted and vetted…”
Elena Da Silva’s letter to Chairman Henry Charles Usher continues that she and the rest of his legal team have advised Saldivar to commence urgent legal proceedings against them for this second denial.
So, we wondered why a second lawsuit, instead of following through with the first 1, which sort of put on pause. Saldivar told us today via telephone that the first claim has ended in a default judgment in his favor. That’s because the PUP, and the leaders who Saldivar sued, failed to submit their defense before Justice Shona Griffith in the time. That’s despite their assertion that they would strongly defend against it.
So, Saldivar has a judgment in his favor which he cannot enforce immediately because the Supreme Court is on recess, and the convention is only 10 days away. He told us that this second claim will have to include an interim injunction to block the Belmopan convention from happening, as was his intention the first time around.
We’ll keep following this developing story, and if and when that lawsuit does show up to court, we’ll tell you how it goes.
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