As the U.D.P. gears up for its National Party Council meeting this weekend, questions about its legitimacy continue to swirl. First Deputy Leader Hugo Patt has openly challenged the validity of the gathering, but not everyone agrees. We asked Party Chairman Alberto August to weigh in on Patt’s claims. While he chose his words carefully, August made it clear he believes the deputy leader is being misled — basing his stance, he says, on assumptions and innuendos rather than facts.
Alberto August, Vice Chairman, U.D.P.
“I am thinking hard before I respond to your question, simply for the purpose of not wanting to drag this party any farther into where it is. I have nothing but respect for the honorable Hugo Patt. I believe that in this instance, the honorable Hugo Patt was ill-advised. The reason why I say that is because the National Party Council is mandated by the constitution to meet at least once every three months. In other words, four times per year. The National Convention, like I told you just a while ago, is mandated to meet every two years. So, within one meeting of the National Convention the party council would have met eight times. So this is just basically a routine meeting of the National Party Council. Like I said, the National Party Council meets eight times before the National Convention meets. I would have suspected, and of course, it’s in hindsight now, after the fact, for the honorable, first deputy leader of our party to have attended Saturday’s meeting of the National Party Council and on the basis of the information that he receives then makes his decision, either here nor there. But like I said, I don’t want to be dragging the party’s business into the political fray like this, but for the honorable gentleman, for the honorable Hugo Patt for whom I have nuff respect, to have based his decision on assumptions and innuendos, does not speak well.”
