Robert Corbin’s role in bringing former political adversaries together and his decades of public service were recalled yesterday as tributes followed the death of the former PNCR leader and Opposition Leader at the age of 78.
President Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and political colleagues expressed condolences, while the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) credited Corbin with displaying political courage in negotiations which led to the formation of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).
Corbin died in hospital yesterday. PNCR leader Aubrey Norton described his passing as an irreplaceable loss to the party.
An attorney-at-law and former Deputy Prime Minister, Corbin was married to Carol Corbin, a former chairperson of the Public Procurement Commission. His children include High Court judge Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln.
In a joint statement, the People’s National Congress Reform and A Partnership for National Unity described Corbin’s passing as an irreplaceable loss and remembered him as an astute, loyal, disciplined and hardworking politician.
The statement traced his service from national chairman of the party’s youth movement through the positions of general secretary, party leader and Leader of the Opposition. It also recalled his work as parliamentary secretary, minister and Deputy Prime Minister.
The PNCR and APNU credited Corbin’s promotion of coalition politics with helping to lay the foundation for the APNU+AFC’s victory at the 2015 general elections. They said he continued to offer advice during his illness and extended condolences to his wife, Carol, his children and other relatives.
Norton said Corbin held a unique place in the party’s history as the only person to have served as chairman of its youth arm, general secretary and later leader.
“It is an irreplaceable loss to our party,” he said.
Norton credited Corbin with promoting the successive efforts at political cooperation which produced the PNCR–One Guyana platform, APNU and, subsequently, the APNU+AFC coalition.
Corbin took over the mantle of leadership of the PNCR in 2002 on the death of then leader, former President Desmond Hoyte. Corbin was seen as a largely ineffectual opposition leader during the Presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo. The party’s poor showing in the 2006 general election was attributed to him and he then faced several challenges to his leadership, culminating in the decision that would result in David Granger becoming presidential candidate at the 2011 general elections at the helm of APNU.
The WPA in a separate statement, described Corbin as a chief architect of APNU and the PNC leader with whom it had worked most closely.
Although he had been ailing for some time, the WPA said his death nevertheless came as a shock.
It recalled that Corbin led delegations in discussions with the WPA and demonstrated considerable political courage in engaging a party which had once been a bitter opponent of the PNC. His willingness to pursue those discussions, it said, reflected his commitment to power sharing and national unity.
The WPA remembered him as a shrewd and fierce negotiator who respected smaller parties and sought to ensure their inclusion. It said he was prepared to place the collective cause above narrow party interests.
However, the party expressed disappointment that his political skills had not been properly utilised during the APNU+AFC’s time in government between 2015 and 2020.
President Ali described Corbin as a political stalwart who occupied a prominent place in public life through his service as Deputy Prime Minister, minister and longstanding Member of Parliament.
He extended condolences to Corbin’s family and loved ones, as well as the PNCR’s leadership, membership and supporters in Guyana and the diaspora.
Cordial
Jagdeo recalled that, despite their political differences, he and Corbin maintained a cordial and respectful relationship.
“During my presidency, on numerous occasions Mr Corbin and I engaged on matters of national importance,” he wrote.
Jagdeo said they remained able to speak with one another through difficult and turbulent periods, and that their mutual respect continued beyond their time in office.
Opposition Leader Mohamed said he had known Corbin since childhood in Republic Park and remembered him as a significant figure in Guyana’s political life.
He described Corbin’s passing as a tremendous loss to the country and acknowledged his years of service in Parliament, government and the opposition.
Former PNCR parliamentarian Annette Ferguson remembered Corbin as a stalwart whose contribution to the party and country deserved recognition, even where there had been differences of opinion.
She extended condolences to his wife, children, siblings and other relatives, as well as his friends and party colleagues.
APNU MP Ganesh Mahipaul recalled joining the PNCR during Corbin’s leadership and an exchange which remained with him from the 2011 election campaign.
After Mahipaul repeated a saying at a Golden Grove rally and attributed it to Corbin, the former leader smilingly told him that it had originated with PNCR Forbes Burnham. Mahipaul said such exchanges, and the lessons and humour they contained, formed part of his memories of Corbin.
Former APNU MP Christopher Jones expressed his grief in two brief posts.
“My heart is broken this feels like the day my father died,” he wrote. In another, he credited Corbin with helping to shape the person he had become.
Pupil teacher
Born on February 15, 1948, in Linden, Robert Herman Orlando Corbin attended Christianburg Government School and Mackenzie High School. Before his political career developed, he worked as a pupil teacher, Customs officer and social worker.
His involvement in the PNC’s youth movement began in the 1960s, and he subsequently served as its general secretary and national chairman. He later studied at the University of Guyana and the Hugh Wooding Law School and became an attorney-at-law.
Corbin entered Parliament in 1973. His parliamentary service extended over more than three decades, during which he held several ministerial portfolios and served as Deputy Prime Minister.
He was elected PNC chairman in 2000 and again in 2002. Following Desmond Hoyte’s death in December 2002, he became party leader on February 1, 2003, and subsequently Leader of the Opposition.
Corbin inherited a party confronting electoral setbacks and internal divisions. During his leadership, he advocated broader political cooperation and shared governance, although those proposals did not always command agreement within the PNCR.
The party’s defeat at the 2006 elections and challenges to his leadership were among the difficulties of his tenure.
He stepped aside from seeking the party’s presidential nomination for the 2011 elections and supported the process through which David Granger emerged as its candidate.
That year, the PNCR joined the WPA and other parties in forming APNU. Granger succeeded Corbin as PNCR leader in July 2012 and acknowledged his contribution to the alliance’s formation.
APNU subsequently entered an electoral agreement with the Alliance For Change and won the 2015 general elections.
His public life also included community activities. Stabroek News reported his participation in the Sophia Literacy Project’s Christmas celebrations for children and an annual luncheon for senior citizens in Linden held in memory of his father, Dudley Corbin.
In October 2020, he was hospitalised with COVID-19. His wife subsequently told Stabroek News that he had been discharged and was recuperating at home.
Corbin did not seek office in that government but remained involved in the party’s work. He was awarded the Cacique’s Crown of Honour in 2016.
For much of his early political life, Corbin had been a figure of controversy and had had an adversarial relationship with the PPP. Facing an accusation of rape while he was minister, Corbin was required to step down from the Hoyte administration and was eventually cleared of the allegation. As minister of the government he was closely linked to the purchase of a controversial power barge that later became the subject of a Commission of Inquiry. He was seen as a key figure in the hierarchy that had helped to sustain the PNC during the period of rigged elections.
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