EMBATTLED PCNR TO DISCUSS LEADERSHIP ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L GEORGETOWN 001180

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM GY
SUBJECT: EMBATTLED PCNR TO DISCUSS LEADERSHIP ISSUES


Classified By: AMBASSADOR DAVID M. ROBINSON FOR REASON 1.4(D)


1. (SBU) Summary: Persistent rumors that leader Robert
Corbin is on his way out, as well as a public airing of
complaints by some members of the party's youth arm, have
recently dogged the opposition People's National Congress
Reform (PNCR). After its dismal election showing, the PNCR
appears to have passed out its meager winnings to the usual
party bigwigs, losing the chance to launch the party's next
generation of leaders. As the PNCR flounders in the public
eye, Corbin has said that leadership will be an important
theme at the party's General Council Meeting on November 18.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) A recent spate of letters to the editor by members
of the PNCR's youth wing, the Guyana Youth and Student
Movement (GYSM),reveal simmering discontent among some of
the PNCR's younger members. The GYSM's main grievance is
that after trumpeting the party's Youth Empowerment Scheme
(YES) and focusing on youth issues during the campaign, the
PNCR failed to name any GYSM members to the National
Assembly. Faced with a reduced allotment of seats, the
PNCR's backward-looking need to dole out rewards to longtime
party faithful seems to have trumped its forward-looking need
to cultivate the party's future leaders. Highlighting the
opacity of the selection process for National Assembly
members, Corbin refused to reveal the PNCR's "methodology"
for naming its representatives, telling GYSM members that
they were free to "ask questions in the right forum."


3. (SBU) Both the ruling People's Progressive Party/CIVIC
(PPP/C) and the opposition Alliance for Change (AFC) have
been more successful in reaching out to youth. While the
PPP/C certainly took care of its longtime stalwarts, the
relatively youthful Jagdeo also appointed younger party
members to ministerial positions. Frank Anthony, the head of
the PPP's youth arm, the Progressive Youth Organization
(PYO),was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport.
With its upstart image, young leaders, and advocacy of
fundamental change to Guyana's ethnically polarized political
and social fabric, the AFC appealed directly to younger
voters interested in bucking the status quo.


4. (SBU) Corbin has been unable to shake rumors that he is on
the way out. The Stabroek News carried a story on October 24
reporting that Corbin did not intend to run for party
leadership at the PNCR's Biennial Congress next year, and did
not want to be the party's presidential candidate in 2011.
Although the PNCR vigorously refuted the story, the
newspaper's sources stuck to their claim.


5. (SBU) Corbin has said that party leadership issues will
be up for discussion at the upcoming General Council meeting
on November 18. In press reports, Central Executive
Committee (CEC) members deflected attention from Corbin
himself toward broader issues of party governance and
strategy. CEC member Jerome Khan said that the party's
defeat had "nothing to do with Corbin's baggage." According
to CEC member Aubrey Norton, "if the party as an institution
is functioning properly with all the mechanisms in place, it
matters little who is, and who isn't the leader."


6. (C) Comment: Corbin may not be helping his party's cause,
but the PNCR's problems certainly extend beyond his
leadership. The party has yet to articulate a coherent
strategy going forward, and seems to have postured itself in
survival mode instead of investing in its next generation of
leaders. End Comment.
ROBINSON