Thanks for Support, But Briceño Says He Didn’t Ask for It

John Briceño

On Wednesday, Deputy Party Leader Kareem Musa, in an interview with the media, said that endorsements for Briceño’s leadership were being gathered from caucuses across the country.  That effort came in the wake of the National Party Council held on September thirtieth.  But today, Party Leader John Briceño set the record straight.  He says he never solicited written support from any of the respective committees.  That initiative, according to Briceño, was the brainchild of the Southern Caucus.

John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader

“We had a national executive [meeting] and at that executive meeting it was agreed by the national executive that only the chairman is to speak on the convention that is going to be held in the month of November.  Once a national convention is called then the chairman takes over that process and I as a candidate, because then I will be nominated to lead the P.U.P. once more, then I’m a candidate.  So it’s best then for the chairman to take over that function and he’s going to speak on behalf of the party.  But to answer that issue of the signatures, I called no one to write in support of my candidacy and my team, because it’s not only me but my entire team on the executive.  It was the southern caucus that started off on Friday, they sent that letter and then when the other caucuses saw what was taking place, well they also wanted to be a part of it and I really appreciate what they have done because so far twenty-eight out of the thirty-one executives have endorsed my leadership and the team that I am going to put forward.  I always believe that we need to reach out to everyone.  I believe that it is a privilege to be a member of the national executive and even more so, to be the leader of the People’s United Party.  So that anyone that aspires to be a part of either the national executive or to be the leader of the party, I think they have every right under the constitution and I support their right.  But I want to put on record: one, that I did not call anyone and secondly, that I greatly appreciate the show of support from the twenty-eight executives that have already demonstrated their willingness to continue to support me as the leader of the Peoples United Party.”