Email

Print

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"I am not here to be a show pony in a circus. This is not a show. My business is to make sure I bring in Pickstock, that I beat Sedi Elrington and in July and August my business is to be on the ground house to house looking for new registrations and transfers. We are cash strap. I am not getting any money from Ashcroft. I am not getting any money at all. I am getting it from my business at Belize Medical Associates. So I am free. I am a standard bearer for the People's United Party. My leader is Francis Fonseca, but I am a free thinker and my view is that I cannot be in PG at this time."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, will you face a sanction for not attending today's meeting?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"I couldn't care less. As I said, I am fearless."

And he also wants party supporters to be fearless in asking their leader questions. On the current tour - which has the a questions and answer format at the end, he says voters should press party leader Francis Fonseca for answers. He gave one very provocative example of what they should have asked in Punta Gorda:..

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"If the people in PG feel, that you know Party Leader, we have a doubt. Can you assure us that although your name is Fonseca, that Ralph Fonseca won't be back in the saddle when you win. That is what we expect the people in PG to come out without fear and say. That is what is called genuine consultation. I don't believe that I contribute by taking 200 supporters from Pickstock to PG. It is not convenient. I don't have the money for that. My business is to try and see how I can help and I am doing a very poor job at that because I am not in government, but my job is to educate my people, engage them and assure them that when we formed the government, these irregularities will not be continued and that we will be indeed be serving the people. That is my view."

"PUP supporters have these concerns and the undecided voters have these concerns. They want to be assured that the principals who are in charge of governance and economics in the PUP, namely the Hon. Said Musa and Mr. Ralph Fonseca. People need to be assured that since they voted us out in 2008 with charges of corruption and that was conclusive. There were no doubt that we were ejected. We were fired. People are of the opinion that this government is now repeating the same thing. There is unbidden blatant corruption and that it will continue, because they have a feeling, they want us to assure them that if they vote out the current UDP, they will not be voting back the same PUP and that the same managers in charge of the irregularities then won't be in the saddle. Now the only way we can sort this out is if genuinely we put this to the people."

Jules Vasquez
"Is this something that concerns or alarms you that it appears that perhaps Mr. Ralph Fonseca is or wants to be an actor in a government lead by Francis Fonseca?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"Well of that I have a very passionate opinion and why? Because that is a genuine concern. That has been my experience by my professional colleagues and with my people in Pickstock. I am talking ordinary. You have middle class people and even I'd say the poorer working class people have that concern. I am convinced that people do not want to see those same principals back in the saddle."

Jules Vasquez
"But Said Musa is right there sir."

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"I am of the view and I am saying that with respect, you have to be respectful in this democracy. So that's one characteristics of democracy. We are team players as Mr. Godwin Hulse has pointed out. Lots of times when the majority makes a decision, it does not mean that that decision is correct. Those are some of the contradictions within a democracy."

Jules Vasquez
"Should Said Musa still be running for the PUP after what we know happened?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"The people voted him in Jules. That is a democratic..."

Jules Vasquez
"But should he do the graceful thing, and say I had my term and step aside?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"The conventional wisdom is, it would be foolish. Why would you remove Mr. Musa if he is a sure seat in Fort George? Well we have to deal with that, but at the same time we have to ensure, myself, Cordel Hyde and the rest of us, this will not be like before time. This is a new ball game. That will not happened again under our watch."

"There is absolutely no mind to taking down the leadership and I want to say right now, I have no loyalty, I am not here to talk, to push John Briceno or Cordel Hyde as the leader. The only people who have the power over that are the PUP supporters at a national convention. Free open."

"These things are enshrined in the People's United Party constitution. The only way that you can get the stamp of approval of your people, the only way that you can gain legitimacy is to go in open fair elections. That is a suggestion. That is what we are about."

Jules Vasquez
"What has caused the scales to be lifted from before they arise as supposed to March when you all - same 10 - endorsed an endorsement convention for the leader? What has causes the scales? Is it because the PUP continues to lose elections? Is because the PUP is unable to attract funding and is broke? For all intents and purposes."

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"Principal, as we visit house to house, we listen to the voice of our constituents, the people and the people have these concerns. We have to demonstrate to the public that we are not afraid to voice what the people on the streets are voicing. What are they saying? Conclusively, they are saying Doc, we don't want back the same thing that we voted out in 2008. We cannot be afraid to tell this to the hierarchy within the People's United Party - without fear."

Jules Vasquez
"There was a meeting on March 18, 2015 of which I have the minutes. I think these are been fairly widely circulated and at that meeting it shows many of you all - I see these people saying that they support the leader and that we will have a convention at which the leader will be endorsed. This is March 18, 2015. What? Has the world been turned flat since then? Has the world changed?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"That is what I am saying Jules. We have no problem with this. What we thought was truth in March - two months later its fluid."

Jules Vasquez
"You start sound like Dean Barrow sir."

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"We are saying very simply that you have to be realistic. You can't have your head in the clouds."

Jules Vasquez
"You all endorsed an undemocratic principle in March."

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"Correct. That is true."

Jules Vasquez
"So then, I am saying this was a wholesale endorsement in March."

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"Correct."

Jules Vasquez
"You all were wrong to have done that then?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"We were wrong."

Reporter
"Because you did not speak out when you should have?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"Correct. And that is exactly what we are facing and we should not be afraid to admit flaws and errors. That is how we improve and get better. It is evolution. It is the way you improve. The way you don't improve is to not admit your mistakes and to continue the error of your ways. That is the way you go down."

Jules Vasquez
"So it would be an error to continue without a challenge to the leadership convention?"

Dr. Francis Smith, PUP Std. Bearer - Pickstock
"That is my view, but I want to say that very carefully. Our position is not etch in stone, if the majority within the party is of the view that we don't do it. Then that doesn't mean that we will mash up the party and break it up. We are there to make it work."

"We are saying well you know if I am of the opinion that I would like to see Hon. John Briceno and Hon. Cordel Hyde alongside Hon. Francis Fonseca, because it makes for a better image, it will be more reassuring to our voter base - to make sure that those persons - the principals who are in charge of the irregularities during the 2008 era are not back in the saddle. That is an opinion. If it will happen or not, well I don't know. It doesn't mean that I will break up the party or defect. All we are saying is, there are those of us within the People's United Party, there is a movement trying to ensure that our leadership - all our 31 standard bearers meet the very high expectations of our voter population."