The People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) yesterday joined in mourning the passing of Dr Roger Forbes Luncheon, describing him as a man of “exceptional academic and political brilliance”.
“As can be seen from the many important positions he held, Dr Luncheon achieved an important status in the professional and political life of the nation. The Party has no difficulty in saluting these achievements but is not averse to pointing out that Dr Luncheon was a formidable and, at times, a testing opponent of the Party. In its contest with him, the PNC believed that Dr Luncheon made the wrong political choices but respected the steadfast manner and philosophical tenacity with which he held his views and opinions, especially as it related to the defense of the PPP, even when those policies were soiled by racism and illegality”, the PNCR said.
It added that Dr Luncheon came from a generation of Guyanese whose parents placed emphasis on quality education and importance of service to the community. Dr Luncheon’s father was a policeman who was well known for his service in the Kitty District, the party said, noting that Dr Luncheon was inclined to serve his country and community.
“He excelled at primary school and entered Queen’s College. Having entered Howard University, his outstanding performance as a Medical student is still remembered to this day. The PNC played some role in Dr Luncheon’s return to Guyana and he retained friendships with many of its leading members over the years until his death. A good many were his patients. And here it must be stated that, despite the seeming public adversity, Dr Luncheon and his family, especially his father, enjoyed a relationship with the Leader of the PNC, Mr Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, after whom Dr Luncheon is named. It was this complex relationship with the PNC and the personal relationship with the Burnham family that made Dr Luncheon’s political persona complex as well as ambivalent. This complexity and ambivalence were manifested when he offered his services when President Burnham entered the hospital for surgery on August 6th 1985”, the party said.
The party also said that politics changed Dr Luncheon.
“The articulate, chatty, vernacular-loving, intellectually inclin-ed individual became a confirmed Marxist Leninist who embraced the principles and politics of the PPP. Not surprisingly, as a trusted member of the party, Dr Luncheon was given the significant positions of Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Presidential Secretariat when the PPP won the elections in 1992. In these portfolios, Dr Luncheon not only displayed his intellectual acumen but also revealed his mastery of the English Lan-guage. His pronouncements at press conferences could be Delphic as well as impressive”, the party stated.
As Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, the party said that Dr. Luncheon accumulated formidable power in his hands.
“In fact, it is not a fanciful claim that the PPP never engaged in any major political or policy exercise without Dr Luncheon’s input. He was in charge of the NIS; actively involved in intelligence gathering; he maintained an iron grip on the Foreign Service; and was a PPP representative in the Dialogue with the PNC. It may be observed here that Dr Luncheon was not shy in the exercise of the power he held or reluctant to affirm the dominance in the PPP. He caused the PNC to suspend the aforementioned dialogue with the PPP”, the party noted.
The party also took a jab at internal PPP politics.
“It is not possible for the PNC to issue this statement about Dr. Luncheon without remarking on an occurrence which even from this distance in time seems incomprehensible. Dr. Luncheon had rendered unmatched service to the PPP. He had deployed his considerable power to get PPP policies through. His loyalty to the party was unquestioned. Yet when he was proposed as the Presidential candidate for the 1997 elections it was rejected. The true story about the relationship between Dr. Luncheon and the PPP which he chose to serve is yet to be written”, the PNCR said.
