Dear Editor,
For a newspaper that prides itself in calling for a Freedom of Information Act, I am surprised that you omitted the salary and office allowance of the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Corbin’s salary, excluding allowances, is G$347,000 monthly (the same as a government minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly) plus a monthly allowance of G$294,276 for the upkeep of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
These are contained in the Handbook for Members of the National Assembly and Stabroek News does not need a Freedom of Information Act to access and publish those emoluments.
All I am doing is questioning whether PNCR supporters like myself are getting value for the monies paid to Mr Corbin and for the upkeep of his Office of Leader of the Opposition.
If you dispute or have reason to disbelieve that in a bid to justify being the presidential candidate for 2011, Mr Corbin has been telling party groups that it was because the AFC backed out of a deal not to contest the polls, and the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA) insistence that Rupert Roopnaraine be the presidential candidate are the reasons for the PNCR contesting the elections, you can verify this with him or any of the other parties concerned.
Yours faithfully,
Mustapha Alphonso
Editor’s note
We have no difficulty publishing the salary and emoluments of the Leader of the Opposition. It was omitted because of the context in which it occurred, which was somewhat different from that given above.
The second part was confusing, unless Mr Alphonso was referring to the 2006 election, rather than the one due in 2011.
