Georgetown : Leader of the opposition Robert Corbin reading from a written statement told members of the media yesterday that he have on repeated occasions, over the past seven years publicly stated that the credibility and legality of the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB) as constituted was questionable.
“During the well publicised constructive engagement in 2003 between President Jagdeo and me, we agreed that the then ACB should have been reconstituted. Consequently, acting in good faith of our agreements, I notified President Jagdeo, by letter dated 16th October 2003 of my intention to replace the nominee of the Leader of the Opposition with immediate effect. I also pointed out that due process was not followed in the original nomination of the representative of the Private Sector Commission. The President and the then Minister responsible for the administration of the Postal and Telegraph Act, Mr. Samuel Hinds, adamantly refused to honour my notification and sought to justify their retention of Mr. Ronald Case who was nominated by the previous Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Hugh Desmond Hoyte.
It is significant that President Jagdeo, who refused to act upon my notification, proceeded to name a new Chairman of the ACB, (Evan Persaud replaced Mr. Pat Dyal), and to appoint a new nominee of the Private Sector Commission, (Norman McLean replaced Carlton James), without giving the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity to name a new nominee or even notify him of the above changes
Mr. Ronald Case could not be under any illusion that he was not representing the Leader of the Opposition and that he was no longer a nominee of the Leader of the Opposition on the ACB”, Corbin said.
Last night the President through the Head of the Presidential Secretariat issued a statement saying “Mr. Corbin has surfaced and has made quite passionate criticisms of the president, accusing him of lying and providing misinformation to the Guyanese public.
Since 2003, Mr.. Corbin has sought to get President (Bharrat) Jagdeo to remove from office the appointments of the then leader of the Opposition Mr.. Desmond Hoyte from the constitutional commission GECOM and the statutory committee, the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB).
Mr. Corbin indicated that he had lost confidence and wanted to replace the commissioners and the committee members’ appointed by Mr. Hoyte. President Jagdeo after being provided with legal advice rejected Mr. Corbin’s advancement; that was since 2003.
It is clear today that based on his outburst that Mr. Corbin has his own bleak intentions and was seizing the opportunities that were available in the wake of the suspension of the licence of CNS Channel 6.”
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