Mr Corbin was lacking in some aspects of opposition

Jan 26, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor:
B. Beniprashad Rayman obviously is delusional to think that if she calls me a liar and repeats it often, that it would automatically translate into a fact. It’s just as if I were to deem her a cogent and coherent person, repeat it often and think that it will automatically translate into a fact. Reality doesn’t work this way!
Judging from her latest denunciation of me, “What is Mervin’s beef with Corbin – public mischief or fatal attraction?” (KN, January 24), she either is a delusional fanatic of the Opposition/PNCR Leader or a pliable conduit through whom the Opposition/PNCR Leader channels himself.
I don’t Know which it is, but I do know after reading her latest harangue that exposes her lack of basic comprehension skills, that I have no interest in debating the Opposition Leader’s alter ego and so I will let the points and observations of my last letter stand until such time that the Opposition Leader provides answers to the following questions I posed to him.
Can he list his achievements since assuming the post of Opposition Leader in December 2002, including identifying the bills he piloted into law in Parliament, the concessions he extracted from government for his constituents or funding he got from government for general projects his party identified?
As a fellow Lindener, can he say what he has achieved for his hometown or done to address the complaints by Lindeners about the government controlling the only television station in Linden or to get government to acquiesce to the court’s order in the case of Chapman and Yearwood versus the government to grant their request for independent radio licences?
(Incidentally, it was Mr. Corbin’s party that struck a deal with the government that has us now waiting for new broadcast legislation since 2001, and it was his party that struck a deal to postpone Local Government Elections until reforms are executed, so that we are without Local Government Elections for over 15 years. The PNC is not helping the people here!)
Given the glaring financial irregularities in government, cronyism, nepotism, ‘bullyism,’ overpaid contracts, questionable disposition of state resources, the arrest of certain criminal suspects while other criminal suspects are walking freely, etc., can he say what he has done as the main parliamentary opposition leader to help lead concerned Guyanese in arresting these negative developments?
If the Opposition Leader is reading this letter, I want
him to know that I don’t expect him or his political surrogates to accept my contention that he has received a retirement benefits package or that he has held secret meetings with the President, even though I have painstakingly elaborated on these.
Likewise, I refuse to accept his claim that the President sought three opinions on extending his term in office beyond the scheduled election date, unless he produces evidence.
And adverting to the Stabroek News story of January 15, that an unnamed source said the President did seek an opinion, will not wash.
Newspapers are in the business of reporting news, and part of this activity allows them to cite named and unnamed sources.
They serve a useful purpose keeping the public informed and holding elected officials in check, but newspapers are not elected by the people and can choose to carry or not to carry stories or to cite or not cite sources. Readers can also boycott newspapers but they can’t vote them out of existence if their sources prove unreliable.
Politicians, on the other hand, do not have this luxury, because as elected officials, their business is to serve the public by producing promise-based results, being transparent and accountable for everything they say or do.
And since the Opposition Leader, not Stabroek News’s unnamed source, was the first one to break this news, the onus is on the Opposition Leader to help expose the President who repeatedly said he is not interested in a third term, but may be interested in extending his term in office.
The Opposition Leader is not merely an elected official, but the leader of the parliamentary opposition whose job it is to help keep the government in check.
But this Opposition Leader has failed miserably in the execution of his statutory duties while enjoying his statutory benefits for us to allow him to make a startling charge and not be willing or able to back it up with evidence.
But not only did he fail to produce evidence to back his claim, he went further and said that he was glad that the President in ‘on record’ admitting to seeking an opinion on extending his term in office.
I searched the archives of Stabroek News and Kaieteur News for news articles that could serve as part of the public record, and even asked both newspapers’ editors for help, and apparently no ‘record’ seems to exist.
Like I had asked the Opposition Leader for evidence to back his claim, I now ask him where is the ‘record’ that the President made an admission he sought an opinion of extending his term in office?
For the last time, just point me to the record and I’ll take it from there, because I do have long-held suspicions of possible scenarios that Guyana just cannot afford to have materialized.
Emile Mervin

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