A major political crisis has engulfed the United Democratic Party (UDP) as it convenes for its national convention, with leaked internal communications exposing severe internal divisions and bitter infighting among delegates. Confidential WhatsApp messages obtained by News 5 reveal a party leadership structure in complete disarray, with delegates openly trading accusations of betrayal, power hunger, and sabotage of party unity.
The explosive leaked correspondence captures intense confrontations within a delegates’ group chat, where members launched personal attacks against each other regarding their preferred candidates for the crucial party chairman vote scheduled for today’s convention. Multiple participants expressed grave concerns that the public airing of internal disputes was severely damaging the party’s public image and undermining its long-promised objective of achieving organizational cohesion.
One particularly revealing message from a delegate stated: ‘The backstabbing and greed for power have been nauseating. Dog eat wi suppa if soh ah deh win,’ employing local vernacular to emphasize the cutthroat nature of the internal competition.
The conflict escalated dramatically after Mesopotamia area representative Lee Mark Chang publicly declared his support for Roosevelt Blades in the chairman race. This endorsement triggered immediate backlash within the group chat, with several delegates accusing Chang of exacerbating existing divisions within the party structure.
While the convention will historically endorse the party’s first female leader, the chairman position has emerged as the primary battleground, with Roosevelt Blades, Sheena Pitts, and John Saldivar all vigorously competing for the influential role. The leaked communications demonstrate profoundly fractured support bases for each candidate, raising serious questions about post-convention reconciliation.
Another delegate’s message poignantly captured the prevailing anxiety: ‘At this rate how do we come out of tomorrow united?’
Chang defended his position in the heated exchange, stating: ‘Sad is I am not entitled to my opinion and get attacked for it. Sad da only pro Tracy can voice their opinion and the others need to keep quiet or get ridiculed and attacked.’
The chairman race has exposed the UDP’s most significant internal fault line, presenting the party with yet another public relations challenge as it battles perceptions of organizational collapse and internal dysfunction at a critical juncture in its political trajectory.