Dear Editor,
At last the Leader of the PNCR has finally plucked up the courage to respond to one of my letters using his name (‘Political objective was to serve notice to President Jagdeo and PPP that PNCR was aware of their plans’ SN, January 12). Mr Corbin is obviously upset that I supported President Jagdeo’s call for him to identify his ‘colleagues’ that he claimed President Jagdeo sought legal opinions from to remain in office, and this time, he feels the need to put a stop to my criticism of his politics. In his letter he expressed views he cleverly hid from the Guyanese people for many years, thereby showing his true colours.
It is true that I have been openly supportive of the candidacy of Winston Murray as the PNCR presidential candidate, and I’m proud to have done that, but Murray’s untimely death removed a major obstacle to Mr Corbin’s leadership and influence within his party. As he described me in his letter, “Indeed, he arose out of nowhere to champion the band of advocates for a particular PNCR presidential candidate… He then shifted his advocacy after his alleged, preferred candidate could no longer undertake the task.”
Editor, one can almost hear the contempt for Winston Murray, a great patriot and a loyal PNCR supporter for over 30 years; a leader who may have been alive today had he not suffered all the stress from running against the PNCR establishment. Mr Corbin did not even mention his name.
I met Robert Corbin once at the funeral of my nephew who was brutally robbed and murdered over five years ago. My best friend of over 30 years is a prominent member of the PNCR, and although never a member, I’ve always been supportive of the party. As a lawyer, Mr Corbin should have known better than to respond to a critic in the court of public opinion when he’s angry.
Prosecutors do this all the time with a defendant on the witness stand; get them to lose their temper, and they may eventually get the truth out of them.
Later in his letter, Corbin really shoots himself in the foot with this statement: “So if he feels that my credibility has suffered then that is only what he thinks, but, fortunately, his view is not shared by the majority of bona fide members of the PNCR. They are the people whom I serve.”
Is that so? This is the type of reckless statement that will make it very difficult for a PNCR candidate to secure a victory at the polls as long as Mr Corbin remains leader. For as the old people would say, ‘Mouth open, story jump out.’
The people of Guyana have heard it directly from the horse’s mouth: Unless you’re a bona fide member of the PNCR, Mr Corbin has no interest in your welfare.
The PNCR presidential candidates must demand that Mr Corbin retracts this statement and apologises to the vast numbers of Guyanese who are not members of the PNCR, but whom they are dependent upon to be able to occupy State House later this year.
This, unfortunately, has long been the philosophy of our leaders, and defies our motto: One People, One Nation, One Destiny.
The Stabroek News headline to my letter prompted the following response from a blogger named Neilsen:
“Let Corbin keep deluding himself that he can use other people paws to pull nuts out of fire for him to consume. If you have credibility, any at all, face the electorate!”
Mr Corbin should know that I will give critical support to the PPP/C administration when they deserve it, in the same way I would be critical of the opposition when it’s merited. I would like to think of myself as a truth detector:
A patriotic Guyanese who has decided to join the ranks of the few with the seemingly impossible task of keeping Guyanese politicians honest – Mr Corbin included.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Gill
New York
