Dear Editor,
In accepting his defeat by Mr Corbin for the position of leader of the PNC, Mr Murray was reported as saying “I am prepared to accept the results… because the margin is so wide, that even if there were – as I believe there were – flaws in the process and irregularities in the procedures, it is clear that Mr Corbin would have won.” To me, this statement is an honest admission by Murray that Corbin had the support of the majority of delegates.
In my view, a victory for Mr Murray would have changed the dynamics of politics in Guyana and demonstrated this party’s commitment to change the race-based politics of the country. I believe he would have been able to rebuild the party to become a serious contender to win the presidency, if not in 2011certainly in subsequent elections. As for Mr Corbin, assuming he is the party’s candidate in 2011, I do not see him winning. Worse yet, I do not think he has the same good will as Mr Murray to be able to rebuild the party for success beyond 2011.
Now that the delegates have made their choice, one has to wonder what the motivation was for choosing Mr Corbin. After all, he lost the last two contests against the PPP. Mr Mervyn Williams may have provided the answer. The Stabroek News of July 17, in reporting on Williams’s resignation as Chairman of the party’s Region Three Committee, states “In a letter (seen by Stabroek News) to PNCR General Secretary Oscar Clarke dated July 7, 2009, Williams offered his resignation with immediate effect… he explained that he had the first inclination to resign when a representative to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) told a meeting that ‘the PNCR is essentially an African Guyanese party voted for at elections by the African Guyanese population.’” The paper further quotes Williams as saying “What, however, both shocked and surprised me is that the Leader [Robert Corbin] who was present during the two presentations and addressed the meeting subsequent to both presentations did not take the time to correct the situation…”
Some columnists and letter writers have consistently blamed Indian Guyanese for keeping the PPP in power. Would these scribes now be writing to blame African Guyanese for preventing the PNC from gaining power?
Yours faithfully,
Harry Hergash
