And while Dr. Barnett walked in May, John Briceno did so in June. He was Deputy Prime Minister at the time and was offered a Cabinet demotion - which he rejected, and then resigned cabinet. And it was all over that secret Universal deal - which then Prime Minister Musa kept from his Cabinet. When Briceno and other senior ministers publicly repudiated it, PM Musa closed ranks.
Tonight, we have more from our archives, comparing Musa's 2007 explanation of why he kept it secret, to Briceno's disavowal at that time - and fast forward to today, where 10 years later Bricneo seems to have come to terms with Musa's handling of the debacle:
(May 10, 2007)
Rt. Hon. Said Musa
"As to why I signed the guarantee without going to the Cabinet first, well I did not consider it necessary at the time. They were aware that there was already a guarantee in place by the DFC, which is an agency of the government. So I did not consider it necessary to get another approval for a substitute, if you like, the government's guarantee for the DFC's guarantee."
April 26, 2007)
Hon. Johnny Briceno, Acting Prime Minister
"It was not a Cabinet decision and we were unaware of this guarantee that was given to Universal Health Services. It would be difficult for anyone to be able to support an unlimited guarantee for a private sector loan and so certainly if I had known at that time, I would not have supported any unlimited guarantee to UHS."
Hon. Johnny Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"I had a problem with the whole issue that led to this problem. But at the end of the day the Prime Minister managed to find a settlement whether you like it or dislike it or you feel no way about it, a settlement was found that did not cost directly the tax payers of this country."
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