Straight Up by Mark Benschop

SOMETIMES people do not like to face reality, and even when they are confronted with the evidence, they are still hesitant and extremely stubborn in accepting the truth.
Politically speaking, this is often times the case with folks who are diehard party supporters and prefer to continually vote for a party that offers very little to enhance their lives, or a bright future for themselves, and family members. Thus the usual comical utterances from party supporters – such as “I born a…and I gon die a…, or my grand faddah was a dis, or my Cha-Cha was a dat…” – which, mind you, is a ridiculous notion and is not confined to any one political party in Guyana. Such trends could be best described as blind loyalty, and for the most part, these blind party loyalists express no remorse for their voting trends, regardless of how cruel they are often treated by ‘party comrades.’ Surely, such is something that has been (and unfortunately, still is) the hallmark of the PPP, especially during its 23 years of iron-fist rule.

, persons throughout the length and breadth of the country can attest to countless examples of horrible treatment meted out to them by high-ranking individuals in the previous government, or those attached to Freedom House, or some overnight rich business person with privileged connections. In fact, I am almost certain that most Guyanese have experienced this voting trend and blind allegiances to political parties, as I have within and outside of my family structure. Look, don’t get me wrong, people are entitled to support a political party of their choice; it’s their constitutional right. Yes, even if that party is ANUG or has a horrible track record of Punishing Poor People, as is the case of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). I wish to focus specifically on the treatment of supporters of the PPP – those very diehard individuals who have endured tremendous hardships, were tormented, slaughtered and ill-treated in the same manner as other non-supporters of the PPP.

In fact, we have heard about the 400+ Afro-Guyanese who were allegedly slaughtered at the hands of death squads, the notorious Black Clothes Police, and other criminal gangs, which were said to be connected to the then ruling party. Unfortunately, I have attended dozens of funerals of individuals who were said to be supporters of the PPP, many of whom were brutalised by the police, some who were killed under the disguise of robberies, some drug-related murders, some through vicious pirate attacks, some through suspicious deaths in police lock-ups, and others by the disbanded Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad. Not to forget, the vicious beating and teargassing of sugar workers, and those citizens who were protesting in front of the Albion Police Station. Yes, I have also witnessed and attended to many persons within the various indigenous communities across the country, where many were discriminated against, beaten, slapped by a presidential guard (allegedly, in the presence of President Donald Ramotar), locked up for absolutely no real reason, other than political spite and other forms of spite by party officials. Thus, it is a fact that most party loyalists prefer not to speak out on many issues of human rights violations and other forms of brutalities during those dark years.

In fact, many of these victims related to me personally that they never felt safe under the PPP, despite the fact that they are party loyalists. Also, there were many business persons (many who complained to me privately, and some via my TV show many years ago) and some were blacklisted from leaving the country. Sadly, no one was spared from the wrath and scorn of the PPP, including my friend (former PNC candidate and AFC supporter) Mr. Balwant Singh, who was victimised under the PPP, numerous rice farmers/millers, police officers, GDF officers, etc.

In closing, it is for those very reasons mentioned above, and more, that I boldly and unapologetically state: Guyanese, should never allow the PPP to ever gain power again, by every legal and democratic means necessary, through free, credible and transparent General and Regional elections. In my next column, I will deal with the issue of the PPP prime ministerial candidate.