Reform and Resurgence
The PUP for much of the 1980s was heavily divided and out of ideas, characterized by intra-party fights such as the 1983 national convention in which Said Musa challenged Louis Sylvester, or occasional disputes between the so-called "left wing" of Shoman and Musa and the "right wing" of Sylvester, Ralph Fonseca and persons considered to be the chief financiers of the PUP. In 1986, Musa won the chairmanship position and began recruiting new faces into the party. The immediate result of this was improvement in municipal elections in the late 1980s and a close general election victory in 1989. In its first post-independence term the PUP hardly shied away from the same economic policy the UDP had utilized, involving economic growth by improving services. An early election in 1993 cost the PUP a chance to stay in power; a victorious alliance of the UDP and National Alliance for Belizean Rights forced the PUP to become the opposition party for a second time. The PUP used the time to do some internal repairs at national conventions in May 1994 and November 1996, which saw the resignation of George Price as party leader; Said Musa defeated Florencio Marin Sr. in the ensuing convention to name a new leader. After winning municipal votes in 1996 and 1997 and the general elections in 1998, the PUP were riding high once again.
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