Mark has a loose cell in his head.  He knows how to get press. He is crazy and he has no shame.  He is like Al Sharpton before he discovered the benefits of corporate dollars and shut his mouth.  He has an ego and needs attention, and can be quite a nuisance if he doesn't get it.

One good thing about his presence in the race is that the PNC will stop taking for granted its base, as it tends to.  There is still alive within the PNC the notion that the masses should follow the leader and do as they are told. The well known contempt that the African/mixed upper middle class has towards the black poor.

I just don't understand why APNU left itself exposed to Benschop.  Actually I do.  They have no disrespect for poor blacks and laugh at them behind their backs.  You should have heard Burnham laughing at how stupid poor black people were.

The PPP will happily buy all those ID cards from those folks who decide that voting is a waste of time and that their lives will be miserable regardless as which party wins.

Granger better get his lean body into Tiger Bay, Albouystown, and the other ghettoes of G/town.  Many of these people are in this condition because of the Burnhamite PNC which destroyed the educational system, and undermined the self reliance of the Afro Guyanese poor.  They were poorly placed to defend themselves against PPP racism, and so now are poorer than their grand parents would have been.

Albouystown, Tiger Bay . . . how many people actually live there in 2015?

Mars ....Scatter Brain

Wear many Different Shoes & Slippers too...

Redux one day you will understand that you and I aren't voting in the election.  It doesn't matter what I think.  I fact I think that Mark is a fraud.  I remember when they same man was telling me that I was an idiot because I hated the PPP.  He went to slurp PPP soup.  They didn't stroke his ego, so he became one of their worst enemies.

Knowing that he has a following, and tremendous access to the press APNU AFC should have coopted Mark to keep him quiet.   Evidently they ignored him, and so now he is angry.

Some view him as a martyr.  He was imprisoned by the PPP and since his release his charity has provided tangible help to people. 

The very impoverished, who are those who might be swayed by Mark, appreciate his help when their sons were harassed by the police.  Pity Granger thought those people were beneath his notice and that their votes for him were assured.

Now if the election is close and Mark siphons off 5k, that might hurt.  If you don't know that Mark as a following you don't know Guyana.  Jagdeo made Mark a martyr.

I agree. The PNC and the PPP share a remarkably similar culture especially contempt for their poor ordinary supporters.

I'd go easier on Granger though. I didn't see the coldness and aloofness you find.

On the contrary he comes across as warm and friendly on a personal level, even given to the odd unexpected gesture of friendship. Then again I have a very conservative definition of what is warm and friendly.

bai, shaitaan seh that APNU better be thankful that he introduced Granger to some Indo businessmen suh he could collect some money

har har har harrr!

And many other similarly impoverished neighborhoods in South G/town.  I just named two of the worst.  You can add places like Agricola as well.  Where ever there exists young alienated and unemployed black males.  That is his constituency.  The ones who the cops can torture and get medals for doing so while middle class blacks sniff and say that they probably deserve it,

Don't fool yourself that Mark cannot find 5k votes there if he really wants to.

Continue with your attitude.  If Granger behaves the same and Mark goes on the warpath the results mightn't be too pretty.

It would have been using to just massage his outsized ego at least until May 11th.  It might be too late now.

Pity that APNU didn't think to incorporate Mark Benschop and Eric Phillips and do outreach to these black youth.

A grown man still acting the part of the child on the elementary school yard. If someone hacked my account and started to put your posts under my handle, I'd apologize to the Board and hope that people didn't start to believe I have a serious drinking problem.

I actually kinda feel sorry for you which is why I patronizingly ignore you. You're kind of like DG. You're on the GNI short bus and it would be terribly mean and unworthy of me to beat up on the old, the senile, the imbecilic, and in your particular case that rare combination of the three.

You do not have the requisite skills (even rudimentary ones) to form coherent arguments and defend them so you are reduced to posting pictures of livestock and their excrement, small children, antiman, and apparently shoes for some odd and puzzling reason.

Ego te absolvo!

Mark Benschop would do well at local elections; he should run for mayor

his party will be destroyed in May . . . if he actually runs

irreparable harm to his political viability looming

I did even when I was writing a check for him.  Nagamootoo actually seemed more humble, just lacking in charisma.

Maybe Granger thinks that he "owns" my vote.

This is absolute rubbish from you Mars.  Mark went to jail for Guyana.  He was not the only one who run into OP.  Corbin was there too but Mark paid the price.  

Mark is a Guyanese patrioit, but his timing STINKS.

THis is a 2 way race, no space for no one else.

That is not what I said you fool.

Let me be clear once again. Years ago before I even met Granger, a few Indian businessmen were invited to meet with Granger privately. It so happens that my opinion was solicited by a few of them and I enthusiastically told them to go.

That's all I said.

Is that so unbelievable that some NYC Indo businessmen and I are acquainted and they asked my opinion as a friend and acted on it?

What is rubbish? That he was a PPP soupatunist before they cut off the spigot is a known fact. That he incited violence against the government is no secret either.  

Your leader Corbin was a PPP soupnist too and do not let us start about KINGS and QUEENS who were in BED with the PPP on Amaila Hydro Project.  Want me to publish the facts.

SHUT YU RASS, yeh Mars.

How did Corbin become my leader, jackass? Was I ever a member of the PNC? 

Gwan suh yuh slimy racist.

Mark is a loud mouth.  He has a huge ego.  He imagines himself as defending the masses in parliament.  He cares nothing for a party structure and I don't think that he wants more than one seat in parliament for him.

His support base also understand this.  They too want him as an advocate to keep Granger focused on their needs, so some might vote for him.

Like I said its a pity that APNU didn't predict Mark's plans since he offered himself as mayor, and not as a PNC candidate either.

Having Mark actually run an institution beyond that which massages his ego.  That's not going to happen.

Mark is Al Sharpton circa 1995.  Just as how Al almost pulled off an upset in the 1997 mayoral election when he came second in a run off, and drove the Democratic party into hysteria at the prospects of him being their candidate, Mark might shock folks by pulling in enough votes to win a seat.  Now suppose both the PPP and APNU AFC each get 32 seats............

Racist, I am here defending MARK benchop you ideological IDIOT?

Mark is a blackman who I got NUFF respect for.  He paid for our democracy in BLOOD, unlike you and your crab leader - CORBIN

Your leader CORBIN, he get free pass and do a deal with Jagdeo on the Pension and Mansion for himself.

Slimeball, how did Corbin become my leader? Explain this to me stupid moron.

Carib - Mark will not get 200 votes this time.  Before the AFC joined the APNU, Mark was guarantee more than 4,000 votes.  But people cannot take that risk anymore  - ALL FOR THE APNU+AFC Coalition now.

I don't know that I would call him a patriot.  I think that it was Jagdeo's stupidity that made Mark a martyr.  He jailed him and couldn't prove that Mark committed a treasonous act.

Yes Mark did run down to Guyana to drink PPP soup.  Was as ferocious against anti PPP blacks as Kwame is now.  But what the PPP didn't know is that Mark is an independent man.  When he didn't think that they gave him enough soup he got angry and became one of their worst enemies, so they tried to shut him down by jailing him.

They made him a martyr and since then Mark has made it his mission to "help" the poorest blacks in G/town.  Granger goes to his cocktail parties and dismissed Benschop as he nuisance.  If Benschop deprives the coalition of its 1 seat it needed to win, Granger will regret ignoring him.

I agree, Mark should be brought into the coalition.

That's actually one of the principal reasons he's so popular. That was an excellent political move in Guyana. Add to that, the PPP sent him to jail for the lofty offense of "treason" and you begin to explain his popularity among the most disaffected of Afro-Guyanese. Here is a young Black male struggling against the racist regime punishing them because they are the wrong race. This kind of historical narrative writes itself because of the unique history of Afro-Guyanese.

The PPP blundered badly in handling Mark. They don't understand Black people, their history, and their political behavior which results.

Just look at how Jay Bharrat here refers to Mark as the "pardoned treason accused" like that is some mark of shame. It's actually a badge of honor among Blacks to be so demonized by a perceived racist outfit like the PPP. Paradoxically, Mark is blessed by making the "right" enemies.

Yes he was fervently pro-PPP at one time. I tuned into my regular TV show back in the day to see Mark...and badam! The man changed views overnight...I mean...overnight! Having said that, he has a right to run as independent and I am not in support of the rumors against him like they spread against Hammie and GGG in 1997.

Before Nagamootoo joined the AFC Mark's support base called the AFC "red and potagee party".  Nagamootoo doesn't even begin to have a constituency among these people.  The AFC never had a constituency among these people.

You really ought to stop babbling about a part of Guyana which you have absolutely no knowledge about!

These are the people who will tell you that they hate the PPP and Granger never did anything for them.  They know Mark will not win.  They hope that Mark in parliament will represent their interests. 

Mark is the black Ravi Dev and I do recall that ROAR won a seat in parliament.

ROAR received 4400 votes...a remarkable achievement for its time.

Mark is no fool.  He will know that he will only now be invited because the PNC is afraid that he might siphon off a few votes that might hurt them.

I was thinking about that. Did you see the classic Apan jaat the legendary Freddie pulled on Mark?

shaitaan, everything u say about Benschop, his circumstances, his populaity, etc., is true

Hamilton Green . . . Burnham cousin, PNC favorite, former GC and organization man of the party and rival of Desmond Hoyte, sitting Mayor of Georgetown, pulled 1500 votes  (nationwide!!) in 1997!

word to the not-so-wise (that means u Mark)

1. Having visited that section of Guyana, I was just appalled that it even exists. I don't think our middle class GNI expats understand that there are tens of thousands of Blacks in GT and it's environs who live in a state comparable to slavery in 2015. I've seen places where people live that civilized people in Guyana would not store their chickens. It is simply unconscionable from a human standpoint. I thought I was in Haiti during that experience. I'm actually surprised the Buxton Insurgency wasn't more widely supported. These people have the makings of revolutionary tinder for any Government especially a non-Black Government.

2. Mark is a better Ravi Dev. Ravi Dev was never able to genuinely connect with the ordinary Indian as he was too over-educated and looked down on them. Mark has the right balance to be a far more effective Ravi Dev. Also, Ravi Dev was fighting an Indian Government that wasn't seen as "Indian enough." Mark is Black fighting an Indian Government that is arguably anti-Black. A much easier sell. As well Black supporters are more easily converted to Black voters than are Indian supporters convertible to Indian voters.

I suspect there is a crucial difference in 2015 than 1997. There is a whole underclass of Afro-Guyanese who are living in a hopeless situation that is no better than the conditions of slavery in 2015. In some instances, a logie would be a step up in human dignity.

1997 was only 5 years from a PNC Government. 2015 is 23 years from that state. The PNC has had ample time to be viewed an entity that is either irrelevant since they don't care or as a permanent impotent opposition of no consequence and no hope of winning. These things were just not present in 1997.

I don't think the average Black person living in extreme poverty in Guyana has the time or the inclination to weigh all these fancy ingredients in 2015 that may produce a Black Government even if they could. PNC prospects for victory in 2015 is a hard sell to these people and even if you do that there is still the selling point of what if anything that means for them to replace an Indian elite with a Black elite in power.

that's exactly why they will not be stupid!!

I guess you forgot that Hammie made this mistake of being seen with Cheddi because he was so narrow minded in his enmity to Hoyte.  At that point all the GGG folks ran right back to the PNC.  And the GGG ended right there.

By 1997 Hammie was seen as a PPP soup licker.

It's all in the rumor. Was he really a souptunist? Let me tell you something. I was at the PNC rally in South GT when Hoyte broke the rumor that Hammie received $7 mill from PPP. I was there. On the spot soaking it in. That was the end of poor Hammie. What great days those were. Sarasota don't have this kind of action .

there is a similar whisper campaign about Mark . . . did u read Freddie?

it matters not that it is untrue . . . it is the natural consequence of a quixotic run that even the blind can see benefits only the 'oppressor' and spells D I S A S T E R for those most oppressed if successful in any significant measure

like i said, the people aren't stupid!

The 5000 folks who might vote for Mark don't think that Granger even notices their condition.  They vote with the hope that Mark in parliament will daily force Granger to notice them.  Now whether Mark will do this is any one's guess, but the fact remains is that when they face police abuse Granger stays as far away as he can.  Mark is the one who helps them.

You are like the folks who said in 1997 that Sharpton wouldn't get votes in the NYC elections. He pulled in the second largest number, forcing a run off with the Democratic party refused to have, out of fear that Sharpton might win.

So don't write off Mark.  He appeals to the same folks which Sharpton appeals to.  If he really wants to run he is good for his 5000 votes from depressed neighborhoods in G/town.

I hate to say this chap but you doan seem to know Afro-Guyanese as well as I do.

These people are not being "stupid." They are voting their interests as they perceive their interests to be and who will be their Tribune of the Plebs as opposed to their Patrician Consul.

To me this represents a profound degree of political insight for a very downtrodden/marginalized segment of the Guyanese population.

This is not about mass desertion of APNU.  Blacks who always vote PNC will vote again for APNU.  Mark might get the alienated young black MALES (not females) who are usually the target of the police, and who attract the scorn of the cocktail circuit black elites.  He might get 5,000 of them.  That might  be worth a seat.

Guess what.  They don't care where he gets his money from, and in fact might think that he has some Godfather in the USA. What they do know is that some have benefitted from it.

Unless APNU can prove that its PPP money then Mark will have some support.

If they prove its PPP $$$ than Mark might as well pack his bags and flee.

I agree. I certainly don't think Mark is gonna cause mass desertions of PNC voters. He can't and he doesn't need to.

He wins with 5000 votes. He's the de facto Leader of the Opposition as far as the media and the public will be concerned if he obtains 10k votes (enough for 2 seats). Mark won't be some junior MP awed by his new surroundings. He'll be loud, with the media there ready to scribble his every word, and a pain in the ass to both major parties.

Mark ain't gettin no PPP money. If he was, the PNC would have been kind enough to have shared that fact with all and sundry already.

Quote TK : Yes he was fervently pro-PPP at one time. I tuned into my regular TV show back in the day to see Mark...and badam! The man changed views overnight...I mean...overnight! Having said that, he has a right to run as independent and I am not in support of the rumors against him like they spread against Hammie and GGG in 1997.

Quote Redux : Hamilton Green . . . Burnham cousin, PNC favorite, former GC and organization man of the party and rival of Desmond Hoyte, sitting Mayor of Georgetown, pulled 1500 votes  (nationwide!!) in 1997!

Goat Shit is saying....Benchop got more support than Hammie & His Cousin Odo Combined....

THAT IS A BIG PILE OF GOAT CHANNA.