An event in New York has saved Robert Corbin

Aug 04, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Does Mr. Corbin know that he has competitors? The African Guyanese will not vote for the PPP in 2011 (racial tension is rising) but who says they will ballot for the PNC? Already the AFC is upping the ante. While Mr. Corbin was in Parliament, the AFC leaders were outside the House, picketing and they had some impressive slogans.
Of course, it was quite possible that the PNC had an astute plan. Demand an emergency debate on the revelations in the Simels trial in New York. If the Speaker refused, stage a dramatic walkout and join the PNC pickets outside.
My take on the demonstrative action of the PNC in Parliament last week was that it was a planned strategy. Even a child could have predicted that the Speaker would not have suspended the Standing Orders to facilitate an exposure of the Government. If the PNC’s theatrics were planned, then why, and what is Corbin up to?
I believe it was a deliberate intention therefore we have to search for the reason. Mr. Corbin must have found himself in a superbly winnable situation that he grasped the opportunity with all the strength in his body and fortitude in his mind.
With a credibility rating that is below zero, Mr. Corbin, found himself in a situation where he could erase that non-existent image by latching on to the courtroom embarrassment that will precipitate a national crisis in the country. And that is what he did.
His thinking had to be supported by his fellow Parliamentarians because they had no choice – refuse to go along with Corbin’s plan for the walk-out and let the PPP off the hook. The dramatic play-out in Parliament certainly could only heighten the standing of both the PNC and Corbin.
So the question must be asked – where do the PNC and Mr. Corbin go from here? The drama in a New York courtroom may have thrown a lifeline to Mr. Corbin and his evaporated organisation. It could only get worse for the Government as the trial continues and the transcripts become public. As a spin off from this, it could only get good for the PNC. The PNC is bound to suffer a humiliating rejection if it goes back to Parliament while the AFC stays out. It looks like we have seen the last of the AFC in the House before the 2011 event.
The PNC will be forced to stay out too. With the cauldron of Khan boiling over, any return to Parliament will be a foolish choice. Even though Mr. Corbin has given notice that he will pilot a motion in the House to stop the sale of the State’s shares in GT&T, it is doubtful the PNC will return to Parliament because the heat of the Roger Khan exposure will prevent that.
Robert Corbin can’t be that political dull to know with a rising tide of uncertainly in the country, his re-entry into Parliament will hurt the PNC terribly among its supporters.
Will Mr. Corbin stay on after the PNC’s congress coming up this month? If yes, only an expanding national crisis can bring him applauds from the PNC’s alienated constituencies. The Government will have to be so weakened, and a national pale of gloom will have to arise and dampen the entire country before the other PNC leaders put their animosities with Mr. Corbin aside and rally around his leadership.
This is a distinct possibility. It is difficult to see how the PPP Government can avoid a national crisis. The world will not tolerate a Caribbean Government that has given huge political and functional space to a convicted drug trafficker in a US prison. There may be serious consequences for Guyana that may severely weaken the PPP’s grip on power. There is the suspicion that the opposition parties will not let this one pass without a fight.
If the PNC is part of the big fight, then Mr. Corbin will survive because the members of Team Alexander and Norton and his backers will be forced to participate in a national confrontation with the Government. It may not be a nice prospect facing those wanting Corbin out of the PNC leadership.
From his cell in New York, Roger Khan may have changed the fate of Robert Corbin. But there is a huge but. But if there is no implosion in the Government and we reach 2011, will people vote for Corbin? This is the dilemma facing the PNC. It is a daunting prospect. Corbin’s next move is anxiously being awaited by a curious nation.

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An event in New York has saved Robert Corbin

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