Mr. Corbin has not delivered, but where do his potential replacements stand on the issues?

Jan 06, 2009 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
To letter writer Mr. Eustace Harlequinn, who asked, “Is Mr. Van West Charles trying to become Leader of PNCR” (January 5), I think you have every right to ask that key question, as well as all the other supporting ones of Mr. Van West Charles.
But what I think you are missing in your observations is this rather pertinent question: Is Mr. Robert Corbin qualified to lead the PNCR?
An easy follow-up would be: If he is, then list his achievements as leader of the PNCR and leader of the main Parliamentary Opposition?
Mr. Harlequinn has to admit that one of the reasons why so much is being written about potential challengers to, or replacements of, Mr. Corbin at the helm of the PNCR is that there are serious questions and concerns by Guyanese, at home and abroad, about his leadership.
So let us be frank and balanced in our questioning of any and all who want to lead the PNCR, including Messrs. Corbin, Van West Charles, Vincent Alexander, Winston Murray, Aubrey Norton, and whoever else might be on the short list; because the PNCR is not just a political party; it is the country’s main Parliamentary Opposition.
And in this latter role, there is a lot riding on its back to help deliver balanced leadership in the governance of our nation. Unfortunately, the Corbin-led PNCR does not appear to be providing the necessary counter balance to the Bharrat Jagdeo-led PPP regime.
At this juncture, I would be remiss if I don’t advert to a published letter by Mr. Alexander at the height of the 90’s street protests and demonstrations, in which he promised to publicly offer his views on what might be needed to address then growing public concerns about the cause and effects of the PNCR-inspired street activities.
That letter was met with a directive from Mr. Corbin, in the form of a letter published in the SN, ordering an end to all letters and opinions from PNC members on the protests.
I thought it was a missed opportunity by the PNCR to come across as morphing by allowing its members to publicly vent their views on a disconcerting sociopolitical issue.
But that’s when it dawned on me that the party’s street protests that turned violent and destructive might have been part of a deliberate strategy to use as leverage to negotiate for shared governance, and any view from party members that could undermine that strategy had to be tamped down.
After that, the party never became a conduit through which members could openly vent on issues.
Every view had to be carefully scripted and vetted, and this contributed to the continuing downward spiral of the party as a forum for muzzled members and supporters, and as an elected representative voice of the people in Parliament.
If there is one thing that I think is missing among all potential replacement candidates of Mr. Corbin is an idea as to where they stand on the issues of the day; and the reason for this is that our political culture continues to nurture personality cult politics, where greater emphasis or focus is placed on a person than on a set of principles to help us deal with the issues.
I noticed Mr. Harlequinn introduced, as an example, the name Carl Greenidge into the matrix of contenders for PNCR leadership; but rather than citing Mr. Greenidge’s stance on issues, he cited the fact that Mr. Greenidge was more frequently in touch with the PNCR. After all we have endured, is this type of personality politics still a qualification for leadership of a national party? (Not that I am dismissing Mr. Greenidge as unqualified, but where does he stand on issues affecting the nation?)
Personality politics in our contemporary political culture can be traced back to the late Cheddi Jagan of the PPP and Forbes Burnham of the PNC, whose larger-than-life personalities not only dominated their respective parties, but gave direction where our country would be driven.
These two men were not mere founding leaders of their respective parties; they became the embodiment of their parties. Their removal from party leadership could not come at party balloting, but by just how they departed: through death.
So, given the general state of the country at the time of their individual deaths, their personality-type political leadership failed to unite the country as one people and develop us as one nation with one common destiny. To boot, the current general state of our country continues to reflect the results of unproductive personality politics.
The time is long past when the archaic political culture that gave us Messrs. Jagdeo and Corbin should be dumped in place of having a system that allows candidates seeking to lead national political parties, or even hold national office, to be publicly vetted by allowing us to know where they stand on the issues, and what kind of vision they have for Guyana. If this culture remains unchanged, it is more probable than impossible that both Messrs. Jagdeo and Corbin could end up being leaders for life, and this does not augur well for our developing democratic process.
Issues-based politics will also remove the platform on which the PPP/C and PNCR traditionally stood to articulate and generate insecurity and fear among ethnic-based constituents so they can vote along ethnic lines, thereby leading to ethnic polarization and real or perceived charges of discrimination and marginalisation.
It may not happen in my life time, but I still envision the day when the Guyanese electorate can be given a choice of a presidential candidate who is non-Indian at the top of the PPP/C ticket, or non-black who is at the top of the PNCR ticket. By then, the ‘C’ and ‘R’ add-ons to the PPP and PNC respectively will be moot, since they are currently empty political symbols.
Once issues, rather than race, dominate the agenda and vision of political parties, and their presidential candidates are chosen after transparent debates and discussions among the membership, then we can rest assured that whoever the presidential candidates are, they will be from the best of the crop in each contesting party. All candidates should then be asked to participate in nationally broadcast radio/TV debates on issues affecting the nation. Issues, not race or personalities, must always be the basis for the electorate casting ballots.
If we, the people, allow ourselves to go again for the shallowness of race or personality politics, but especially after all we have been through in the last 50-plus years, then we deserve the type of leadership and results we get.
In 2006, we showed we are ready to end the PPP-PNC domination when the AFC was sent to Parliament. Are we ready for the next upward step? Yes, we are!
Emile Mervin

---

---