President Donald Ramotar last evening pledged to take Guyana to a great future if re-elected as he joined other speakers at the PPP/C’s final rally for tomorrow’s general elections to appeal for votes to reclaim a parliamentary majority and sound warnings over any attempts to manipulate the process.
“Stand by me and let us deliver the biggest victory for the people of this country,” Ramotar told thousands gathered at the Lusignan market tarmac. Unlike the PPP/C’s final rally for the 2011 general elections, there were no dancing girls and no Soca superstars like Destra at this year’s final rally. And for a significant part of Ramotar’s speech, sections of the crowd appeared not to be listening and talked among themselves while some left.
Ramotar led the PPP/C to its worst showing in two decades at the 2011 polls, winning the presidency but losing the majority in the National Assembly. He was forced to call early elections to avoid a no-confidence vote that was being moved by the opposition.
With the race between the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC alliance being seen as close, the speakers for the incumbent wasted no time in going after the opposition. However, former President Bharrat Jagdeo, who had been leading the charge at previous rallies, toned down his rhetoric.
Instead, it was Ramotar who targeted the opposition in all spheres, saying it has been “practicing a subtle form of racism” and “bombarding the psychology of the Indian population” in Guyana while referring to an ad.
He also said the opposition has a history of rigging elections. “We still must be alert, we still must be vigilant because we have a group of people out there that specialise in stealing and we must stop them from doing so. We cannot allow our democracy to ever be undermined again,” he said, while adding that APNU+AFC cannot deliver democracy. “They have been the ones who historically have been raping democracy… and stifling freedom in our society,” he added.
Ramotar also indirectly referred to the opposition as “bitches.” While recalling that the APNU and AFC have not supported the anti-money laundering bill, he said in Belize, the Prime Minister, in thanking the opposition in that country for their support on the same bill, said “Thank God you are not like those bitches in Guyana.”
“We will win these elections in a very, very big way,” Ramotar also said, while adding that he is happy that there are many international observers here given the opposition’s history of violence and rigging elections. “The PNC is the same APNU and they are a bunch of thieves accustom to thieving elections and they will continue to want to steal elections in any situation,” he added.
Ramotar also said that under the PPP, there has been a marked improvement in the lives of Guyanese and the party can be proud of its record. “We are the party of continuous change,” he said, while arguing that the PPP/C is able to grapple with
![Human rights activist Sherlina Nageer during a demonstration at the PPP/C rally at Lusignan yesterday. Nageer later posted on her Facebook page that within a half of an hour of her taking up the position, she had a drink thrown on her. She added that in the two hours she stood at the rally, numerous people called her “vile names, threatened to rape and assault me.” She said she left after they snatched the sign and the Guyana flag from her hands. “[I] just wanted to be able to stand, at a public rally, across from what used to be my home, with a message [I] believe needs to be heard,” she wrote. (Arian Browne photo)](https://s1.stabroeknews.com/images/2015/05/20150510PPPRally1.jpg)
Once re-elected, Ramotar recommitted to infrastructural development and he mentioned the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion, roads, jobs, a deep-water harbour and markets for farmers in London, New York and Paris. He said that they will also not neglect traditional industries, such as sugar. “We will build a new specialty hospital…and we will do organ transplant right here in Guyana,” he said repeating promises he made during his 2011 elections campaign.
The president also referred to the 2008 Lusignan massacre, during which 11 persons were killed and sought to suggest that there was a link between comments reportedly made by APNU+AFC presidential candidate David Granger, who had said that there would be no more massacres under his government. Ramotar said that “only he who owns the dog can call off the dog” and questioned whether Granger was in control of the criminals and said that this is a “frightening implication.”
He also appealed to mothers to help deliver another PPP/C victory that will be able to take the country forward and “preserve and advance the gains.”
The meeting’s chairman Anil Nandlall also mentioned the Lusignan massacre and said that AFC executive and attorney Nigel Hughes could have chosen to prosecute rather than representing an accused, who was eventually freed.
Prime Ministerial candidate Elisabeth Harper, who spoke just before Ramotar, also urged supporters to vote for the PPP/C to ensure a majority victory.
“Greater things are yet to come with the PPP’s victory,” she said, while urging supporters to vote early. “Do not allow yourself to be intimidated… this party must preserve its integrity,” she added, while saying that the finish line is just ahead.
PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee warned that “there are certain dangers that we need to look out for as we go to the polls on Monday.” He said the party wants a wide and convincing majority and victory and he too urged all to vote. He added that they must also exercise great vigilance.
“Once you are on that list, we will make you vote,” Nandlall said even as he accused the opposition of practicing “latent racism.” The rally started just after 4PM as Nandlall stated that the party has no apologies for the friends and many family members on the party’s list of candidates “because we are one big PPP family.”
Activists shared numerous copies of the Guyana Times newspaper but by the end of the rally many were left over. Vanessa Benn’s debut on the platform was overshadowed by Jagdeo, who walked onto the stage to hearty cheers as she spoke. At one point, raising her arm, she asked, “you ain wan hear me?” as some persons chanted “Bharrat! Bharrat!”
The biggest cheers were for Jagdeo, who spoke after Rohee and just before Harper. He said APNU and AFC did not do anything positive with their majority in the National Assembly after the last elections and emphasised that if the people want real changes in the country, the PPP/C needs the majority “to allow Ramotar to move this country forward.”
“We are not into power sharing at the level of the executive for the sake of it,” Jagdeo said, while noting that the PPP/C changed the Constitution and made it inclusive but the opposition “rejected every attempt to reach out to them.”
He attacked Granger and the alliance’s Prime Ministerial candidate Moses Nagamootoo, saying that their campaign is based on lies, distortion and they have no vision. He too said the opposition has campaigned on racism and he also warned of potential “attempts to snatch ballot boxes.”
As he urged those gathered to vote for Ramotar, the former president said that the PPP has made Guyana “the envy of the Caribbean” and declared that the opposition cannot compete on the quality of candidates and on a vision of the future so “the only thing they can talk about is race and corruption.”
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds was not present and was said to be campaigning in Berbice, while some senior PPP officials were also not present and those who were did not speak.
