In the face of doubts about the effectiveness of the current leadership of the main opposition, PNCR leader Robert Corbin says the party cannot allow itself to be diverted from the real issues facing the nation.
Former PNCR Chairman Winston Murray, in an address to delegates at last week’s Georgetown District Conference, said the leadership of the party had become “weak” and “impotent,” which he blamed for the lack of respect shown by the government. Admitting that he also has to take some blame for the weak leadership as up to recently he was part of it, Murray called for a militant approach by the party and called on its leadership to take its membership to the streets.
Last year Murray announced his resignation as chairman of the party and stated that that the party’s public departure from a position he took on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) had made it impossible for him to continue to hold the office with credibility. He remains an MP and Shadow Finance Minister.
Asked about Murray’s assessment, Corbin said he would rather not react to it, but drew attention to the fact that he had addressed the need for effective leadership at all levels of the party at its 2007 Congress. “Sometimes when people don’t understand fully the reasons for strategy and tactics they can arrive at incorrect conclusions,” he said last Saturday, while adding that he did not wish to enter into a public debate on the issue, particularly with the Congress two months away and a leadership an issue likely to arise. Corbin said leadership is always an issue for assessment and that the objective conditions and rationale for decision-making has to be carefully analysed.
Asked to say whether he was prepared to contest for re-election if he is nominated, Corbin declined to answer. He said there were more important issues at hand, including upcoming local government elections. “That is my focus… our party has to be focused on what are the issue to be addressed,” he said, “The focus now is not a mad power struggle for who should be leader and not should be leader; that is a small issue in my opinion that could be determined by members of this party.”
He said members ought to be more concerned about the direction that the current Bharrat Jagdeo administration is steering the country towards. Further, he emphasised that no matter whoever is leading the party would face the same challenges confronting the nation and would have to address them. “It cannot be addressed if we waste a lot of time fighting and arguing when we should be confronting the real issues,” he added, noting the danger in the preoccupation with “minor issues” when the same time could be used to inform the people about changes in the local government system. In fact, he explained that ensuring the Georgetown District is prepared to contest the local government polls is one of the reasons for the “long overdue” holding of the conference. “To the extent that we get diverted into irrelevancies we are denying the members of the party and citizens of Georgetown adequate time to prepare.”
Corbin had left open the possibility of his candidacy when asked at the start of the year. He said that the question of his “electability” is for the judgement of members and supporters, who will decide the direction of the party at the congress.
Following the controversial outcome of the Georgetown District Conference vote, ousted Chairperson Aubrey Norton accused Corbin of seeking to retain the reins of the party. Although it had been speculated that the Georgetown District sends the most delegates to the congress of the party and yesterday’s outcome could be pivotal to Corbin retaining his post, what with new Chairperson Volda Lawrence seen as an ally who could promote his candidacy. But PNCR General Secretary Oscar Clarke has said that the Georgetown District does not and is not entitled to send the largest block of delegates to the Party’s Biennial Congress.
Already, management consultant Dr Aubrey Armstrong and former health minister Dr Richard Van West-Charles have indicated an interest in contesting for the party leadership at the congress. Armstrong, a PNCR executive, had not made a decision at the start of the month but did not rule out the possibility; while Van West-Charles has been open about candidacy.
Corbin has continued to face down questions about his leadership as well as calls for him to step down since the 2006 general elections, where the party recorded its worst election defeat. Recently, the PNCR has been criticised for taking a soft approach to the government, raising doubts about whether it was providing effective leadership of the opposition. Acknowledging the need to retool and restructure, the party held a leadership retreat at the start of the year where it identified several areas for attention, including how it is financed, its use of technology, its outreach to its membership as well as its outreach to youth and to non-traditional supporters, particularly in the Indo-Guyanese and Amerindian communities.
