Speculating on the Corbin factor in a possible Jagdeo-Corbin partnership

Jan 10, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
In my previous letter, I started by focusing on speculations about coalitions and partnerships being formed to unseat the criminally corrupt and inept Jagdeo government and its equally complicit party.
Some speculators believe a broad coalition of all opposition parties and interested groups can pull it off. Others have drawn the line on which party or parties to work with.
Truth be told, while pieces of the puzzle are still being put in place and we still have some time before the final opposition picture emerges, time will also separate pretenders from contenders and help us see who will hold and who will fold.
So saying this or that strategy could yield desired results is speculation at best, and because the two main parties are tight with information, speculation is what most commentators and pundits have to work with over the next few months until events become more crystallized.
For example, I previously speculated about a President Jagdeo-Prime Minister Corbin power-sharing arrangement in the pipeline based on suspicious secret talks between the President and PNCR Leader. I literally attracted some hostile reaction for it.
For clarification and edification purposes, I am going to cite five observations that fueled that speculation:
1) The President and the PNCR leader held secret talks on ‘parliamentary matters’, even after the AFC entered Parliament in 2006, and they never once reported to the public.
2) The government became engulfed in criminal corruption right after street protests and demonstrations were called off by the new PNCR Leader.
3) The PNCR Leader has been a virtual no-show as the main parliamentary opposition leader in the face of government’s escalating abuse of public funds and dictatorial tendencies. The late Winston Murray became the face of the party’s leadership.
4) The government is brazenly ramping up questionable deals and projects involving public funds even though it has a few months left.
5) Parliament approved generous retirement packages for both the President and PNCR Leader, even though the PNCR Leader extracted nothing substantive from government for his main constituency.
I also offered that for the two to share power, the President would have to rely on the PNCR’s parliamentary support for a third term. Outside of that, any extension of the President’s stay in office would have to come through a series of orchestrated chaotic events that would allow the President to declare either a limited or national state of emergency and suspend elections indefinitely.
Today, the situation in Guyana is so politically volatile, nothing can be ruled in or out without taking into consideration the behaviour of the President and his government as their time to demit office draws nearer.
However, certain specific events have since caused my previous speculation to give way to this new question: Will those failed third term plans for the President be adjusted slightly to still allow for a PPP presidency and a PNCR prime ministership, but with Messrs. Jagdeo and Corbin outside the government as the puppet masters behind the curtains?
The specific events I mentioned include, though not necessarily in this order, 1) the PNCR Leader putting up a valiant fight against Team Murray after surviving an earlier raid on his position by Team Alexander, 2) the PNCR Leader saying his party will not support the President for a third term, 3) the President saying, after several failed promotions by his supporters, that he is not interested in a third term, 4) the PNCR leader declaring several months ago that he will not be his party’s presidential candidate, and 5)  the President appearing to be grooming PPP General Secretary, Mr. Donald Ramotar, to be his heir apparent.
Additionally, whereas the AFC settled on its presidential candidate last year, the two other major parliamentary parties appear to be engaging in delaying tactics to pick their candidates or are experiencing uncertainty and factionalism in their respective parties that would require time to resolve.
But while the PNCR Leader’s decision to step aside as a contender took most of us by complete surprise, it quickly turned to suspicion when he also decided to stay on as his party’s leader, even though traditionally the leader of the party has been the party’s presidential candidate.
His real intention here may be found in a statement he made abundantly clear a few weeks ago: regardless who the party’s candidate is, the campaign will not be about the candidate’s personality, but about strictly adhering to the party’s manifesto.
This means, while six prominent names (Granger, Greenidge, Green, Williams, Harding and Ramsaroop) have since emerged as possible candidates, regardless of who the final pick is, he or she must stick to the party’s script and be answerable to the party, headed by Mr. Corbin.
So, why does the PNCR appear to be stalling on its pick? Is it to ensure the ‘right candidate’ gets the nod? And will the PNCR Leader encounter challenges to his preferred choice the same way he encountered challenges to his position as leader?
One thing is clear: even without a government position, Mr. Corbin intends to wield power from his position as PNCR Leader. He is not holding on to this position for naught.
Tomorrow, I conclude with my focus on the Jagdeo factor in this highly speculative Jagdeo-Corbin equation.
Emile Mervin

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