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Jules Vasquez
"We've been out here since 1:15 and we saw a number of key personalities in the PUP didn't show up. We know that most of the standard bearers from the north didn't show up. We know many from central, including Cordel Hyde didn't show up and we know that a number from the west did not show up. Is there a reason for half of the standard bearers showing up?"

Henry Charles Usher, Chairman - PUP
"I don't know of any organized reason. I know a few of them gave us apologies why they couldn't be here today."

Jules Vasquez
"After the strong showing on the ground at the Dangriga bi-election, shouldn't we have expected a good strong showing to continue that momentum?"

Henry Charles Usher, Chairman - PUP
"We had a majority of them there Jules. Majority of the standard bearers, all the members of the national executive - they were upstairs and we had a good meeting. We went through what is the plan for the next couple of months and that was the basic agenda for today."

Jules Vasquez
"So you don't make anything of the absences?"

Henry Charles Usher, Chairman - PUP
"Nothing at all."

Reporter
"Are you saying that there was not a boycott of this meeting by several of the party members?"

Henry Charles Usher, Chairman - PUP
"No ma'am. No formal boycotting of anything. They gave apologies as to why they couldn't be here."

Reporter
"But you said not all of them. A few of them. Who did, who apologized for not coming?"

Henry Charles Usher, Chairman - PUP
"The secretary general has the list, the roster."

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"What is this talk about a boycott? I don't know what you are talking about. There's nothing."

Jules Vasquez
"6 of 8 from the north are absent. We know that from the west we only see....?

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"That happens at many meetings. At many meetings we don't have full attendance. There is absolutely nothing to be read into that at all about any boycott."

Reporter
"This is one of several messages that are coming to you to give up the leadership seat."

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"No, not at all. I am not aware of any boycott."

Reporter
"What happens if it turns out to be that a large number of standard bearers and parliamentarians have lost confidence in your leadership? Are you prepared to step down?"

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"I serve at the will of the People's United Party, Marisol. I have always said that. We just had a national party council in Dangriga where the entire party was present. I think one standard bearer had an excuse and was not present. Every single other constituency was represented - 30 out of 31 and every constituency, that national party council meeting in Dangriga on July 4th, not too long ago, unanimously endorsed my leadership."

Reporter
"However, that could have changed."

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"I am sure anything could change."

Those who were absent include Cordel Hyde, Dan Silva, Jose Mai, Michel Chebat, Major Lloyd Jones, and 7 others from the north, central and west.

But, despite those rather key absences the meeting proceeded with plans in preparation for an upcoming general election. Leader Fonseca explained:

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"We spend most of the time planning quite frankly, planning for elections. We believe the elections are around the corner, so we were planning the main pillars of our manifesto. We spent a lot of time discussing that. We also spent some time of course talking about registration. As you all know this is the transfer period. So those are issues that we are very concerned about and we spent a lot of time looking at those issues and planning forward. We are launching a "power to the people" national tour. So we talked a lot about that as well."

Jules Vasquez
"You said you all spoke about the transfer period up there. Is there any talk of money coming in to assist with those transfers?"

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"We have a strategic plan for the transfer period Jules and that of course, it requires some money, which we will use in a very strategic way. But yes."

And for all that work leading to elections - something as simple as transfers - the party will need money and that's the job of the National Campaign Manager. But then the party doesn't have one: Godfrey Smith is gone - and Eamon Courtenay flatly turned down the job to take his place. Fonseca denies that narrative:..

Jules Vasquez
"Campaign manager?"

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"We did talked about the whole structure of the campaign team and what we have looked at is setting up a structure with regional coordinators and we will determine as we move forward if we need to have in place specific persons in terms of a national campaign manager. But we put together a team of coordinators that we believe will be most effective at this time."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, have you all approached Eamon Courtenay? Had anyone on your behalf approached Eamon Courtenay? We were quite reliably informed...."

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"No."

Jules Vasquez
"We have heard that Mr. Ralph Fonseca acting on your behalf has contacted a number of persons to do a number of things. Is that so?"

Hon. Francis Fonseca, PUP Party Leader
"Again Jules, you are getting your information from UDPs and again, that is absolutely false. I have an absolutely excellent relationship with Eamon Courtenay. If I require Eamon Courtenay to do anything on behalf of the People's United Party, I always go to see him myself. I dont need anybody to act on my behalf to engaged with Eamon Courtenay. So that's absolutely not the case."

Again, despite the Leader's denials, we stick to our Courtenay story: based on our impeccable source we can confirm that the approach was made to Courtney for him to be National Campaign Manager and it was flatly rejected. As Courtenay described it to us: it was "dead on arrival."