The PPP just came off what was described as its “biggest ever” rally at Wismar’s Lieu-Ken-Pen Square!! Looking at the pics of the sea of red – which was NOT parted!! –your Eyewitness must confess it was quite impressive!! As with everything in Guyanese politics you gotta understand the context to appreciate the effect!! Wismar’s one of the three villages in the upper Demerara region that decided in 1970 when they were declared a township to name it after Burnham’s first name – Linden. It’s like getting married and choosing to be identified by the name of your partner “till death do you part”!!
Six years before the renaming, in the ethnic riots that had engulfed the country, more than 3000 Indian Guyanese – practically 99% of that ethnic group – had to be evacuated – permanently it turned out! 43 African Guyanese returning from Gtown later perished in a ferry that sank after an explosion. Ever since then – for more than 55 years, Linden has come to symbolize the deep ethnic divisions that have plagued our nation. While the PPP hasn’t belabored the expulsion of its presumed supporters, since the turn of the millennium the PNC has held annual tributes to the 43 African Guyanese deaths – and a memorial was created in the center of Linden.
Now, even though Linden’s only a part of Reg 10 – which includes Kwakwani and other settlements and logging camps that are more diverse – it has remained a PNC stronghold. And the results of elections in this millennium exemplify this – even though the PPP has worked with yeoman fervor through the years to change it. In 2001, the scores were PNC 14,009 and PPP 3885. With the entrance of the AFC in the 2006 round, under Troman’s presidential candidacy they pulled 3166 which clearly came from the PNC which had dropped to 7212 while the PPP held steady with 3159.
In 2011, the PNC’s haul went up to 11,358 while the AFC under Ramjattan’s leadership plummeted to 1324 – and the PPP colleced 2868. Nothing much had changed for them!! For 2015, the PNC and AFC hitched up as APNU and grabbed 16,791 – their biggest haul to date, while the PPP dipped to 2785. And we arrive at the (in)famous 2020 outing where PNC/AFC/APNU’s catch swelled to 22,749 – while PPP increased to 3162!!
Well, the massive Linden rally brought out all the PPP big guns – Presssie, VP Jagdeo and PM Phillips!! The latter highlighted that Region 10 benefitted from an infusion of $122.6 BILLION in PPP’s five years – compared to a measly $4.2 billion in APNU/AFC 5 years. Pressie called for Lindeners to give the PPP a majority.
If local boy Figgy’s any guide, they might just make history!!
…stance
One rather prolix Trade Union leader has been constantly calling for wider “democracy” in Guyana because of our Constitution’s Art 13. This is rather anomalous since back in 2020 – when the PNC’s fifth columnists in GECOM were rigging the polls for the PNC, he insisted that Pres Granger was “above” that constitution and could override their elections results!! Now, he’s come up with another whopper!!
Looking at the PPP’s red tsunami sweeping across the land and overwhelming even Linden – where he worked as a Bauxite Worker before becoming president-for-life of the bauxite union -he now claims that a two-thirds parliamentary majority ain’t good for Guyana!! James Bond – who’d crossed over from green to red – had raised his possibility. But for Lewis – an inveterate critic of the PPP – to now express the “fear” means he sees it as something within reach of the PPP!!
But the fella’s fear is fundamentally undemocratic! It implies there should be a limit on how many votes the people can give a party!!
…mouths
The fella who introduced “lick BT” into the political lexicon seems to obsessed with that part of the anatomy. By accusing the PPP of rigging elections, he’s taking his PNC-partner’s doody and rubbing it on the PPP’s BT!!
