Dear Editor,
I am extremely disappointed that Robert Corbin announced on Tuesday, August 18, that he would be contesting for the position of leader at this weekend’s congress of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR).
Cde Corbin first must tell delegates and supporters why, under his leadership, all the intellectually bright and politically strategic and talented people have drifted away or in some cases have been chased away from the PNCR. These people include Cdes Vincent Alexander, Sherwood Lowe, Stanley Ming, Hamley Case, Kads Khan, James McAllister, Artie Ricknauth, Chiyudza James, Andrew Hicks, Dr Dalgleish Joseph, Joseph Hamilton, Thandi McAllister, Ivor Allen, Julianna Gaul and Raphael Trotman.
Cde Corbin must also tell us why some overseas-based groups in the United States of America have decided to stop sending money to the PNCR because of concerns about poor accountability and poor representation by the party under his leadership.
Cde Corbin owes PNCR members and supporters an explanation why, under his stewardship, the party of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham is now widely perceived as not holding internal elections which meet the standards of being fully free and fair.
On Cde Corbin’s watch the PNC has lost its vital alliance with the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) whose Presidents General had been Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte. Now the GLU has virtually dissociated itself from the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and is firmly in the hands of the PPP and its band of unions such as GAWU and others under the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).
Under Cde Corbin the PNCR cannot even muster 200 people in Georgetown to march against the government and the PPP, although most of its traditional supporters are outraged about alleged links between Roger Khan and the administration. Today, the PNCR could put only thirty people on the picket line outside the Office of the President.
Only Cde Corbin appears to be deaf to concerns that he is not properly representing Guyanese against the PPP’s governance.
I am appealing to all PNCR voting delegates to vote for Cde Winston Murray because he is a sincere and honest person who has the people’s concerns at heart; he has proven organisational skills and had been in charge of one of the better-run ministries in Guyana – the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry under the Desmond Hoyte administration; he is highly qualified and competent in the areas of economics and law; he has given a lot to the PNCR and is a dedicated and loyal comrade of the party; he had represented Guyana at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference; and he has a multi-racial outlook.
Cde Winston Murray can help the PNCR alone or a combined group of opposition parties to win the next general election because Indians will be able to see that the PNCR which is mainly supported by Africans can elect someone of apparently mainly East Indian descent to be the party leader. The PNCR is ready for a leader who is not Black but who can chip away at least ten per cent of PPP votes to win the election outright, or ensure that the PPP does not have a parliamentary majority to railroad the passage of bad laws and bloated national budgets.
Before I conclude, I have three questions:
1. Why does Cde Corbin think that Britain, the United States, Canada and the European Union will heed his call for them to pressure the Jagdeo administration for an inquiry into complicity between Roger Khan and the Guyana government when his own party’s elections appear to be questionable?
2. Why would these countries heed his call for free and fair elections when those of his party have caused questions to be raised.
3.How can Cde Corbin convince the other opposition parties to join with the PNCR to contest the next general election if there are continual questions about the fairness of the party’s internal elections?
Finally, I hope that the head of the Accreditation Committee of the PNCR, Cde Lance Carberry, cleans up the membership list, so that Winston can win free and fair congress elections and win some traditional PPP votes at the next general election to take the PNCR and the opposition to victory.
Yours faithfully,
Mustapha Alphonso
