…former Guyana MP tells int’l media about threats to life after he voted against his own Govt
Former Alliance For Change (AFC) Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud, who has since been expelled from the party, has outlined the threats to his life after his “yes” vote in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, toppled the David Granger-led Administration.
In an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Persaud said he made the move because he believed the Government has not been focusing on developing the country or creating jobs.
“I was not very calm,” Persaud is quoted by CBC as saying, adding “I was frozen.”
Persaud, who was expelled from his party over his vote, said he was terrified for his own safety because of Guyana’s history of political assassinations. Because of that, he said the only person he talked to about his intention was the man he asked to provide some security for him in the gallery in case he was “jumped”, the CBC reported. “I cried all night [the night before the vote],” he told the CBC, adding that he thought he would die.
The CBC reported that Persaud added that the feeling only got stronger after the vote when he said another MP told him he would be dead that night. “It was not an idle threat I entertained,” he was quoted as saying.
“Persaud said he was even prepared to use his water carafe as a weapon should he be attacked. He said he was lucky nothing happened, adding that modern technology probably saved him.”
“Thank God for the advent of cellphones. Too many people were watching internationally and locally,” he told CBC.
Persaud added that he did not take any chances, and after the sitting, he went directly to the Canadian High Commission in Georgetown and the next morning, he flew to Barbados and then on to Toronto.
According to the CBC, Persaud moved to Canada from Guyana in the late 1970s and studied at the University of Toronto, eventually getting his real estate licence. He returned to Guyana in 1999 to practise law and eventually got into politics.
Guyana Times International had reported in December 2018, that as Persaud broke ranks and delivered the proverbial nail in the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coffin, his life was threatened twice; he was hit by both colleagues flanking him as well as received many explicit comments within a five-minute period. This was all done while the National Assembly broadcast the sitting live on its website. The video is still up on the Parliament website showing clearly what transpired. Persaud received the hostile treatment from his colleagues after he voted his conscience and sided with the Opposition People’s Progressive Party’s motion of no-confidence against the Government, of which he was a part.
During the final segment of the 03h:51m:04s video, during the second part of the debate, when Persaud delivered his first “yes”, all hell broke loose. He received the first punch on his left arm, at 03h:33m:04s in the video, from an APNU MP who insisted that Persaud “can’t vote against the Government” .This was followed by a series of expletives from the same MP and surprisingly, Persaud received another punch from another APNU MP.
Then came the issuing of death threats to Persaud. If one listens to the video, one would find that at 03h:33m:04s and 03h:35m:35s, he receives the threats: “Charrandas you gon dead tonight” and “Charrandas you want dead tonight” respectively. It sounded as though the threats came from a female MP on the Government side of the benches.
