And while a smooth succession would be desirable, politics is not a fairy tale - and there are few happy endings.
The fact is the PUP is divided on who should succeed Mike Espat.
Last week his first cousin Julius Espat made sharp and stinging remarks directed against CEO for economic development Osmond Martinez. He said - more or less - that Martinez's audacious declaration of candidacy caused Mike Espat to die with a broken heart.
Of course, Martinez is the PM's CEO - and it is widely believed that the PM supports him as a possible candidate for Toledo East.
When we asked the Pm about the whole flare up today he said Julius is just being emotional.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think that Julius probably got emotional when he was in front of the cameras. Probably got carried away,but pretty much everyone loved Mike Espat and everyone liked being with him. Like I said he looks like this tough person but he is a soft person, one that can be kind and gentle but at the same Time that takes nothing from anybody and he will say it as it is. I remember when the leader of the opposition was talking about Mike being in the house and when he gets up to talk about the budget sometimes I would jokingly tell Mike you know Mike you're in government you are not in opposition but that's what he is and what he represents and so I prefer to leave it as that you know and it was a great shock to everybody like I said I saw him on Monday and he looked relaxed and we were talking about different issues and he was laughing and smiling and so for me it was a tremendous shock when I found out that he just died from a massive heart attack but I guess God works in mysterious ways and Mike has always said that he will serve until the very end and that's exactly what he did he served until the very end."
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