Leon Hunt hunted me down on Mark Benschop

Mar 20, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I left the Courtney Crum-Ewing church service last Wednesday in the company of one of the election organizers of the Alliance for Change, Leon Hunt. I hadn’t anything to eat all day, so I told him I would have to grab a bite before I dropped him off at the AFC office on the railway line at Sheriff Street.
From the time we drove off, during our meal at Excellence Restaurant on Charlotte Street to the time we arrived at the AFC’s head office, Leon Hunt wanted my opinion on Mark Benschop’s election move. The very next day (Thursday), I opened both independent dailies, the KN and SN, and saw a similar enquiry from well-known activist, Norman Browne, who posed some intriguing questions about Benschop’s entry into the election campaign with his own party.
From the time Mark Benschop entered election politics in 2015, I have had to answer questions about Benschop, because most Guyanese know we shared an intense two-year political camaraderie in which we stood alone fighting the PPP’s hegemony. Sunday night, I was speaking to popular youth leader in the PNC, Robert Wayne Maison, and he shouted over the phone, “Is wuh yuh friend, Benschop think he doing?”
Last Saturday night at the APNU-AFC public meeting at Howes and Adelaide Streets, Charlestown, Heston Bostwick, APNU election organizer engaged me about Benschop. He asked how well I know Benschop. The look on his face was furious.
Here is my answer to Leon Hunt, Robert Wayne Maison, Heston Bostwick and others. The analysis that follows won’t be condemnatory of Benschop, but it will not be flattering at all. Benschop has a right to feel that he should challenge the coalition for votes. It is his right to feel that he is so popular with Guyanese that they will choose him in front of the coalition.
My honest opinion is that I don’t feel that will happen. Benschop will not like what I will now say and he will reply. I honestly don’t feel Benschop will get twenty votes and I am being dead serious. Benschop and I were welcomed by Guyanese who saw us as doing what the opposition couldn’t do. But that was years ago. Events have overrun Benschop.
There is absolutely no way Guyanese will leave the APNU-AFC coalition and vote for Benschop. Benschop was not at the Pegasus Hotel when the coalition was launched. He should have seen the cascading emotions. I don’t know if he was at the Crum-Ewing church service on Wednesday. Moses Nagamootoo was greeted by thousands with rapturous joy. I was inside the church, seated next to Volda Lawrence when we heard the commotion. I looked at her with a perplexed face, and with a tiny smile, she said, “It is Moses.”
Norman Browne in his missive argued that there are questions that Benschop must answer. Mr. Browne mentioned the “one-man party” appearance. Benschop wants to challenge the historic APNU-AFC coalition and so far has been unable to raise a party with a solid executive with influential, admirable figures. Is that the person Guyanese should vote for? When is Mr. Benschop going to produce his team to the population?
Mr. Browne went on to say that Benschop must expect his party to be subject to rigorous scrutiny. I have long had my questions about the finance of Mr. Benschop. This is a question people are always curious about. Dr. David Hinds, Leonard Craig, Gerhard Ramsaroop and Tacuma Ogunseye are some of the names that can testify that I have always been concerned about Benschop’s finance.
A public political figure will attract that kind of curiosity once he spends lots of money. A good example is this columnist. I remember Christopher Ram during the vigil outside Parliament in 2012 for the protestors killed in Linden saying to me, “Freddie you have to get a new car.” I remember Khurshid Sattaur laughingly said to me outside Survival Supermarket when I was fixing my car, “Freddie you have to get a new car.” Benschop should now tell the electorate the source of his financing seeing that he never had a fulltime job in Guyana.
Is it true that Benschop is an American citizen? Is Mr. Benschop campaigning in the Corentyne and Essequibo trying to get traditional PPP votes? He knows that is where he should be. But APNU and AFC people I know up there told me he has no presence in the Corentyne. Maybe not as yet. When Benschop replies, I will have lots more analysis to offer.

Latest News

Leon Hunt hunted me down on Mark Benschop

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Welcome and Sattaur hat-tricks power West Ruimvelt’s emphatic win

Mominul, Jaker help Bangladesh avoid follow on

Rutherford’s stunning century in vain as...

Bentick’s hat-trick lifts YMCA to $1M and...

Final batch of tickets for opening match released

NSC to host National Awards Ceremony on Thursday

Features/Columnists

The business class also funds undemocratic parties

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

Too many sharks too close for comfort

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Leon Hunt hunted me down on Mark Benschop

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]