You connect with them by connecting with them. You articulate THEIR needs, desires, frustrations, and aspirations.

You don't shove down what you want down their throats.

Mark is the smartest campaigner Guyana has currently. He is actually the only one who is campaigning in a manner that is customized to 2015 Guyana.

He gon buy beers fuh dem peeps den they gonna vote PNC.

You go to the people. Eat with ordinary people

So let's say Mark gets votes which should have gone to the coalition giving the PPP the edge...is this a good thing?

Is it not better for Mark to lay off and let those people either throw their vote however hesitantly toward the opposition or stay away, giving them all a better chance to upset the ppp's cart?

You better get a hold of the man fast and tell him all dat dam flour gonna plug up he batty.

You all seriously err when you think Black People are some how born PNC and are monolithic. They're not.

And Mark is gonna prove that on May 11th by showing us he has an electoral base.

I've seen how the PNC takes it's base in Georgetown for granted. Mark has something no amount of money and speeches in a campaign can buy....street cred.

Nobody's born as a member of any party. They are socialized that way. Mark is going nowhere as an independent. He'll get a handful of votes.

if mark want to make a difference he have to start a coup,its as simple as that 

Mark is representing his supporters. And his supporters have a right to choose him as their political representative. That is the beginning and end of the matter.

The people who will vote for Mark do not believe the PNC in or out of Government gives a damn about them. I don't disagree with that belief. The PNC uses Black people just as the PPP uses Indian people to gain office and then abandons them. What has the PNC done recently to advocate for the crushing poverty in Georgetown endured by Afro-Guyanese?

The answer is NOTHING!

Also, maybe Mark is operating from the assumption that the Coalition is doomed to fail no matter what he does so he might as well just fight to represent his base.

And I want someone to represent poor disaffected Afro-Guyanese effectively. That is in the interests of all of us as a society.

Guyana needs more Mark Benschops. People who can genuinely connect with and care for our swelling ranks of Port au Prince poor. The PPP, PNC, and AFC do not care for these people. They could do worse than give their votes to Mark as their official Tribune.

and incite them to overthrow the govt

Does having a beer with someone translate into voting for that person?

Personally I think not, I would like to party with Dubya and have a beer with him....Bill on the other hand ..both! 

That people are willing to stand up to unresponsive authoritarian regimes is no cause for reprimand but reason for salutation.

Even an elected government loses it's legitimacy when it acts and behaves illiberally. The PPP long ago lost their legitimacy as a government.

He was a PPP soup licker not too long ago. What happened? They cut him off from the spigot and he suddenly realized that they are authoritarian.

It often does in the era of abbe young whipper snappers old man.

We do not want Sages and Rishis or Saviours descending from on high to deliver us the Gospel of the Lord. We want leaders who will look us in the eye and converse with us.

There is a fundamental disconnect between the Guyanese tradition of Maximum Leaders delivering to us serfs the revealed wisdom and what the relatively younger somewhat jaded electorate is in the market for.

If that's the standard you're gonna use of condemning all former PPP supporters then half the Coalition is worthy of condemnation as is most if not all of the Coalition's GNI supporters with the exception of me.

He was a golden boy hand in hand with the cabal and suddenly he turned against them. 

I was never a part of the PPP. I did admit that they should be given a chance to replace Burnham but they quickly washed away my goodwill.

question for you:

is there any evidence that "leaders who will look us in the eye and converse with us" make good leaders. 

It is similar to saying that someone with a strong grip is impressive, those things can be learned and not truly represent that people may perceive. 

Mark is a pardoned treason accused. The video footage shows Mark invading OP.  PPP gave him a lease on life; he did not learn.

The WPA had more credibility and did badly in 1992.  Mark cannot get 500 votes.  He is young and has time to build.

His policy platform support "gay rights" so how many votes will that get him?

Benschop's Campaign Bus hits the road

So Mark is showing how humble he is or where he will take us back for transportation.

guyana wikileaks cables – bharrat jagdeo ‘pardons’ mark benschop

Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin

07GEORGETOWN812 2007-08-29 19:41 2011-08-26 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Georgetown

http://propagandapress.files.w...01/mark-benschop.jpg

mark benschop one of the last field negroes still standing in Guyana

VZCZCXRO3560

RR RUEHGR

DE RUEHGE #0812/01 2411941

ZNR UUUUU ZZH

R 291941Z AUG 07

FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5721

INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC

RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000812

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PGOV PHUM GY

SUBJECT: PRESIDENT PARDONS TREASON ACCUSED MARK BENSCHOP

GEORGETOWN 00000812 001.2 OF 002

¶1. (U) SUMMARY: President Jagdeo paradoned Mark Benschop, the

treason accused detainee who has been imprisoned since 2002

for alleged involvement in storming the Office of the

President. Benschop, whose first trial resulted in a hung

jury in 2004, reluctantly accepted the pardon, but vowed to

continue leading protests against the PPP. Benschop’s

release comes at a time when many prominent politicians felt

that prolonging his detention only served to make him a

bigger martyr, and, as such, a potentially valuable political

weapon to be used against the GOG in the future. END SUMMARY.

—————————–

JAILED FOR TREASON SINCE 2002

—————————–

¶2. (U) Benschop was jailed in 2002 after he was charged

jointly with PNC Member of Parliament Phillip Bynoe with the

capital offense of treason for alleged involvement in the

July 3, 2002 storming of the Office of the President.

According to the charges, Benschop and Bynoe were the leaders

of the mob of protestors who invaded the Presidential Complex

on that date — during the ensuing standoff, two protestors

were killed. Benschop has professed his innocence, stating

that he attended the rally as a journalist, not as an

instigator. His first trial for treason ended in a

deadlocked jury (11 innocent, 1 guilty) in 2004. Despite

their failure to convict him at the first trial, the GOG has

kept Benschop imprisoned since 2004 awaiting a retrial on the

same charges.

————————-

PARDONED BY THE PRESIDENT

————————-

¶3. (U) On August 27th, President Jagdeo used his presidential

powers to pardon Benschop for his role in the 2002 storming

of the Office of the President, stating that Benschop has

learned his lesson while in jail and that he should recognize

what he did was wrong. Speaking at a news conference, Jagdeo

said “Benschop has learnt his lesson that you do not seek to

overthrow a democratically elected government without facing

the consequences.” According to Roger Luncheon, the Head of

the Presidential Secretariat, Jagdeo’s pardoning of the

prisoner “was motivated by a request by Mr. Benschop” and

that the President “granted a free pardon in the spirit of

magnanimity.”

——————————————— —

PARDON RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTED, BUT FIGHT CONTINUES

——————————————— —

¶4. (U) Although Benschop accepted the pardon, he said that he

did so only because of his family and his supporters. Moments

after being released, Benschop vowed to continue the fight

against oppression, hinting at contesting the next local

government polls. Benschop also said that while he commended

Jagdeo for granting him a reprieve, he wanted him to extend

the same mercy to hundreds of others who are locked away on

petty charges in prison. He also said that he sees that

President’s pardon as an apology to him, one that he has

accepted.

———————-

THE MAKING OF A MARTYR

———————-

¶5. (SBU) Last week, the topic of Mark Benschop’s continued

detention came up in a meeting between Poloff and Tony Viera,

a Member of Parliament and owner of a prominent television

station. Viera said that the longer the GOG kept Benschop in

prison awaiting re-trial, the more he became a martyr to the

Afro-Guyanese community in Guyana. According to Viera, if

the GOG did not release Benschop in the near future, he would

become a powerful political weapon used against them in the

next elections. Although he did not provide any other names,

Viera said that many other members of the opposition People’s

National Congress Reform (PNCR) had also discussed how they

could use Benschop as a political weapon against the ruling

People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

——-

COMMENT

——-

¶6. (SBU) The timing of Jagdeo’s pardon of Benschop is very

interesting. Post’s 2006 Human Rights Report included

Benschop’s continued imprisonment without trial under the

“political prisoners and detainees” section. Two weeks ago,

Poloff sent out requests to numerous GOG officials asking for

information that will be used for the 2007 Human Rights

Report. In addition, Benschop supporters had just succeeded

GEORGETOWN 00000812 002.2 OF 002

in gaining the interest of the New York City press because of

a tenuous link between Guiliani and Benschop, who briefly

served as a minor press aide in the Guiliani administration.

Jagdeo’s pardon may have been an attempt to avoid an

uncomfortable spotlight.

THOMAS

I make a pledge to you that Fighting for Equal Rights and Justice for all Guyanese, and for the creation of real DEMOCRACY in our nation where everyone regardless of the umbrella coverings of ethnicity, religion, class or sexual orientation can be assured that they will be treated with the respect and dignity they are entitled to as citizens of Guyana.

Mark's buggerman party where Sodomy is a human right.

dude, why exactly are you going out of your way to show just how big an arsehole u can be?

is this how u show support for a progressive coalition to govern Guyana?

smfh

The coalition took Mark for granted.  Stormborn and Jay Bharrat said that he would get only 500 votes.

Granger needs to offer Mark a ministry.

When these people get into trouble Mark shows up.  David couldn't be bothered, except now that elections are up.

Some will support Mark as they believe that he will fight on their behalf.  I just don't understand why APNU didn't outreach to Mark long ago. 

Mark Benschop will struggle to pick up meaningful numbers for his party in APNU strongholds . . . people are not as stupid as some of y'all think

He does not seem to be "struggling" to pick up meaningful numbers for his party in APNU strongholds at the moment. On the contrary he seems to be pretty pleased with his current pace.

On the contrary, the word on the grapevine in describing the Coalition vis a vis Mark Benschop is "nervous."

You can introduce all sorts of "logic".  Facts remain that Mark might well siphon enough votes from Granger to cost the coalition its margin of victory.

The Granger wing of the PNC has not had much interaction with the grass roots African population. A % of this disaffected don't trust Granger.  They see him as an aloof snob.

Granger will win most of the black vote, but there is a segment who Mark will either get, or he will turn cynical against the PNC causing them not to vote.

Its the same aloof arrogance of Granger that created the problems with Linden. It will cost him some votes with Mark.

APNU has courted Mark by his own admission. He has publicly stated that he wants to remain independent.

Just as how some disaffected PPP voters supported Nagamootoo last time Mark might well pick up disaffected PNC voters.  Not most of them, but if he gets 2% of them, that might be enough to impact the election.  Some might think that the Bourgeois wing of the PNC might need some shaking up.

Were I Granger I would be engaging Mark at this very time.  He wanted to be mayor of G/town.  Don't think that he can be any worse than Hammie.  Maybe they can "arrange" something.  Put him as one of the city councilors to stroke his ego and keep him quiet.

I do not understand why they antagonized Mark so. Then again this is the PNC and they share a similar PPP attitude about dealmaking with anyone outside the PNC especially for it's God-given birthright...Afro-Guyanese votes.

Offering Mark a ministry, and an important one at that, would have been the obvious answer sometime ago. Today I'm not sure that's a viable option.

I'm sure the Coalition is now under the impression that they will try and disqualify his List and thus boot him from the election. That fantasy ain't gonna come to pass. He's become quite the election law expert himself recently and further has expert assistance. His List will pass GECOM scrutiny.

The Coalition ain't ready fuh prime time yet. If they were they would have paid almost whatever price Mark Benschop demanded. I would and I'm an Indo-Guyanese who like and admire him. One of many. In many areas of Georgetown that the PPP and PNC forgot, Mark is the President....a kind of Roman Tribune of the Plebs.

Mark Benschop has publicly stated that he has been approached by the APNU+AFC Coalition and regardless of what they offer him he will remain independent.

u really think this is a meaningful analogy?

That means they offered him a position with the opportunity to become a castrated bull.

A castrated Mark Benschop is a destroyed Mark Benschop. He ain't fallin fuh duh wan. Mark knows he must remain "pure" (or at least appear so) to a high degree to remain a political factor.

I guess you were present at the negotiation table.

The man has publicly stated that he wants to remain independent regardless of the offer from the Coalition parties. Anything else beyond that is wild speculation. 

It may surprise you to know that Mark and I are good friends.

I don't speculate on this.

You and everybody are friends and you have inside information on everything coming out of Guyana. Please, give me a break.

Were you present at the negotiation table? If you weren't there and you're getting a story from one side of the negotiations then that's all you're getting. One side of the story. A story has three sides.

how do you know this? what does that even mean . . .?

and of course the coalition wants a united opposition front . . . however, to describe that as "nervous" makes me smile and want to pick up a copy of Ravi's Guyana Times to glean the 'angle of attack' du jour