Opposition to hold joint press conference
Opposition Leader Robert Corbin says that his party will continue their protests against the PPP/C administration until it gets the desired results even as he continues to write to various agencies and governments seeking their help in having an international probe into the alleged links between the government and drug trafficker Roger Khan.
The party continued its protest action yesterday in front of the Public Buildings, as it boycotted the sitting of the National Assembly. Corbin said that the party has no intention of going back to Parliament “at the moment” and suggested that it will continue to boycott the sittings until results are reached, since such an activity was aimed at “producing results.”
Corbin said that the party is not in this struggle alone and stated that his party met with other parties yesterday to discuss the way forward. Corbin was tight-lipped about decisions made at this meeting but told reporters that one of the decisions made will be announced at a joint press conference which will be held by the various parties.
The Opposition Leader then debunked the notion that he was arranging these protests in an effort to garner support in light of the PNCR’s upcoming Congress. “I have no thought about Congress”, he said, while adding that the matter was the internal business of the PNCR. According to Corbin, the issue had nothing to do with him, but it “has to do with something that affects this country and one has to avoid the overworked campaign machinery that is trying to divert attention from the real issues that Guyanese face and, that is, the lawlessness of the PPP, the murder, the involvement with drug lords and they are doing their best, overworking the state controlled media to divert public attention on other issues”
Meanwhile Corbin has written a number of foreign missions and international agencies as the PNCR seeks to have an investigation conducted by INTERPOL, or a similar body. In the letter, Corbin noted that the recent “developments have both national and international security implications, as well as grave consequences for the stability of the State.”
In his letter to the Charge d’Affaires of the Cuban Embassy, Pedro Arteaga Cardenas, Corbin expressed hope that the Cuban government would encourage President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Government of Guyana to heed the call by Guyanese citizens, for an international criminal or similar type of investigations, to be conducted by a reputable international body such as INTERPOL, into these serious matters.”
In the correspondence, the Opposition Leader said that “the revelations of the Guyana Government’s involvement in criminal activity are not new to Guyanese. Over the past eight years, but particularly since 2002, several organizations in Guyana, including the PNCR, have brought these matters to the attention of the diplomatic Community in Guyana, foreign Governments and International Organizations through press releases and other initiatives.”
The letter further stated that “since 2003, there have been several witnesses and potential witnesses who provided sworn testimony that could have facilitated local investigations by the Guyana Police Force and/or Commissions of Inquiry.”
Corbin also noted that efforts to have the National Assembly discuss the matter have failed and mentioned the attempts he made at last Thursday’s sitting to have the issue addressed.
