“The PNCR, recognising that security is a burning issue in Guyana, has obviously decided that street protests is a sure way of focusing Guyanese attention on security - security during the protests and security against the destruction of life, limb, property, the destruction of business, arson and all of these factors that are generally associated with PNCR protests.”

This was part of the statement made by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon during his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President yesterday.

Dr. Luncheon was commenting on the move by the main Opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) to conduct street protests and the manner in which they have been carrying out these, as well as their constant criticisms of any actions taken by the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force during crime fighting operations.

“The street protests can be seen as a deliberate attempt by the PNCR to intimidate the police leadership, to provoke the police during their discharge of law enforcement duties and so, provide additional issues for more contention in the public domain and in the lives of Guyanese,” the HPS added.

He noted that since the 2001 jailbreak, voices criticising the Joint Services were raised including that of the PNCR Leadership and contended that it is not a secret that the party provides support to criminals in many ways.

The HPS recalled that the late former Leader of the PNCR, Mr. Hugh Desmond Hoyte, was captured on tape giving advice to criminal gangs. He asserted too that evidence exists of physical engagement between leading members of the party and the Buxton criminal gang.

“Mr. Corbin, unlike other leaders in CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) opportunistically sees security, not from the perspective of the victims and society, his few commiserations are lost in the mountains of complaints about Army and Police practices, complaints to the media, the public, the overseas Guyanese and now to CARICOM,” the HPS said.

Dr. Luncheon pointed out that the main Opposition party’s posture, its multitude of acts and statements merely embolden criminals and serve to defend criminal practices and attempts to confuse the Joint Services.

He added further that the actions by the Corbin-led party have resulted in alienation and have caused the public to be deeply suspicious of the party’s motives.

“The result is an attempt to use street protests to generate issues and to further criticise the operations and practices of the Joint Services.

“The Corbin-led gang has been handed a most lukewarm response by the PNCR supporters and much less by the general public. Unfortunately, the PNCR is adrift, the ‘Corbinites’ offer no real alternative and they alienate the public by their pandering to anti-social and criminal tendencies,” Dr. Luncheon said.

The HPS stated that Mr. Corbin and his followers can hardly conceal their glee on seizing the opportunities to exploit any weaknesses in the security system and in heightening emotional extremism in response to killings and other outrages.

“Their aim is to promote conflict, extremism and recklessness in confronting the PPP/C Government. It is indeed noteworthy that despite compelling evidence that this approach from the ‘Corbinites’ is rejected by the majority of Guyanese, he (Corbin) still leads his desperate and increasingly irrelevant gang into the unknown,” Dr. Luncheon concluded.