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PUP Gets Sufficient Signatures To Trigger Recall
posted (October 21, 2013)
But, the recall is moving forward, or at least we think it is. 14 days after the Leader of the Opposition's Resign or be Recalled ultimatum expired, and 16 days after the party started its signature drive, the Party today announced that it has collected the required number of signatures to trigger a recall. Deputy Leader For The West Julius Espat explained via phone this evening:..

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"We have 1,758 petition signed that are vetted by us. The 30% based on the last list that we have, that would give us the 30%."

Jules Vasquez
"As we saw with Oceana referendum attempt, they had a super abundance of signatures. However, a fair number of the signatures were not approved."

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"We vetted them on the ground. We have an operational office there; we do it with photographs and everything. Then every now and then we sent it up to the Party headquarters. The Party headquarters have another team there made up of mostly attorneys that are going through that portion of the list."

Jules Vasquez
"When do we get to part 2?"

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"Part 2 is a party decision, not a northeast decision and the party will sit after the signatures have been confirmed and the party leader will have to make that final decision how to move from there."

Jules Vasquez
"The process may be frivolous because the PUP may not choose to go ahead all the way with a recall?"

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"The PUP will make the necessary decision for us to reach to the level of a bi-election whatever that decision is; if it is ny means of the recall mechanism, then that is option 1. If it is by other means, that would be option 2. Then you might have option 3 and 4."

Jules Vasquez
"The multiplicity of contingencies is beyond my comprehension, so I ask a simple question; 65% of the electorate is hard to mobilize without both parties winging their engines, so to speak."

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"We are testing the facade of the reform that they proposed. At the end of the day, let's assume that Mr. Penner still sits in the house, he will be sitting exactly behind me you know Jules, so I might just go and sit beside him and we will become friends. That's another point of view that they have to look at."

Jules Vasquez
"He can't cross the floor without going for a recall."

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"He can cross the floor if he resigns."

Jules Vasquez
"Which would trigger a recall."

Hon. Julius Espat, Deputy Leader - PUP
"And the other means of convincing people to resign."

Gamesmanship aside, the PUP continues to collect signatures because; depending on which list is used the 30% threshold may be slightly higher than 1755 voters. Of course, for context we need to note that in February of 2012, OCEANA collected over twenty thousand signatures to trigger a referendum, and the elections and boundaries office found that only about twelve thousand were valid.

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