As you heard, the PUP will also be moving shortly to name a candidate, but first it has to do some house-keeping. The historic Mahmud resignation is like a body blow - and the political subtext is that the first blow against Mahmud was thrown by Deputy Leader for the West, Julius Espat.
Ever since the 2012 election, he and Mahmud have been jostling for control of the west: Mahmud was chair of the Western Caucus, and Espat the Deputy for the West. Mahmud's supporters say he was eventually boxed out of that position as Chairman - and that was through the calculation of Julius Espat.
Now, that is only one side of the story. Today, in Belmopan we got the other, when Espat answered the media's questions about the perceived tension between him and Mahmud.
Reporter
"Sir, would you say it was irresponsible for him not to notify the party and the party leader?"
Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Western Caucus
"I think it was a disrespect for not informing the party yes, especially the party leader. That's a personal look at it. It's like your wife divorce you and you don't know. It's a temporary crisis mode, we are dealing with it as professional and that we have to. But that we are scared? No. That we are hunkering down and bringing our troops together? Yes. Maybe it's positive. It highlights the fact it will not be an easy task ahead of us. As far as I can tell you we don't have any tensions. We have differences in opinion and that we have many differences in opinion within the party - its a political party and I think that makes it healthy."
Daniel Ortiz
"Our information says it went a bit further than just a differences of opinion. We understood that you are the direct reason as to why he exited the party."
Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Western Caucus
"How can that be? A decision like this is not about me. A decision like this is about not serving the people that you represent and I think that's where politicians tend to misunderstand the concept of why they are there. I will not allow any person to intimidate me or to force me to do something that is contrary to my people which the people of Cayo South, to me it's an honor to serve them and it is an honor to defend them and so a decision like this cannot be made by just a difference of opinion between a colleague. It has to be more than that."
Daniel Ortiz
"Was there a jostling for power between you and Mr. Mahmud?"
Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Western Caucus
"There is no jostling for power, it's a matter of putting in the work. We have a responsibility. As the Deputy Party Leader of the Western Caucus, my responsibility is to oversee all the constituencies. At that time he was the chairman of the Western Caucus which is an administrative post and there are two different roles to play and so I don't see where the conflict arises."
Daniel Ortiz
"When he made this announcement at the beginning that he would not offer himself for the next general election, you spoke to us saying I wish him the best in is endeavors. To those of us, that could be taken as he being left out in the cold - go your own way."
Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Western Caucus
"But what else you want me to say?"
Daniel Ortiz
"Shouldn't you have reached out to try to keep him in the PUP family?"
Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Western Caucus
"It's not a decision for me to make. You see, if you want to be a part of us, then you are welcome to work as a part of us. If you make a decision that you don't want to be a part of us, nobody can force you to do otherwise. We have had people that have spoken to him in the past and they have done everything in their wisdom or their efforts to try and it has not worked out, but I insist guys, why don't you ask him, he is the one that resign. He is the one that is not here with us. He is the one that has decided not to represent the people of Cayo North. He is the one that needs to answer the questions."
Of course, the one person we have not heard from in all of this is Joseph Mahmud. Everyone's talking about him, but he hasn't said a word - which, has been his style, he very, very rarely talks to the media - and when he does, we get the sense that….he'd rather spend an evening with Julius Espat.
But he did issue a statement addressed to the residents and voters of Cayo North this evening. It says, quote, "I'm deeply sorry that I has to give up being your elected representative. Due to personal reasons I must make this decision and return to private life."
He adds, "everything I have done in my area and for you the people I did it on my own and from my heart without prejudice." End quote.
It's a quite melancholy statement - and it says nothing about the PUP, nor does he urge his former voters to support any party.
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