The PNC/R has stated that it is not responsible for the swarming of the Office of the President on Wednesday by protesters which resulted in two deaths.
Chairman of the party, Robert Corbin, said yesterday that no matter what difficult dimension a protest took, it must be done within the confines of the law.
"No. The party does not consider itself responsible for what happened at Office of the President," he told reporters at the weekly press conference hosted by the party.
"We do not feel responsible. We believe there were certain elements... we're still to get a very clear report but certainly we were not involved in any illegal activity at the Office of the President." PNC/R members were part of the illegal march. A section of the marchers broke away and attacked the Office of the President.
Disassociating the PNC/R from any perceived attempt to topple the presidency, Corbin said the PNC/R had no need to get involved in such activity. PNC/R Leader Desmond Hoyte at a rally last month had endorsed a call by Phillip Bynoe - the leader of Wednes-day's march - calling for the removal of the PPP/Civic government.
"It's a party that believes in the power of the people. We have held thousands of demonstrations all over Guyana and once we have been in charge of demonstrations they have always been peaceful and orderly," Corbin said yesterday.
He said the only instances when the demonstrators became disorderly were when the police acted improperly, and when criminal elements sought to capitalise on the events.
Many PNC/R-led protests over the past few years have resulted in violence and attacks on persons.
Two protesters were shot dead after an unruly band invaded the presidential complex on Wednesday and ransacked offices just hours before the CARICOM Heads of Government were to open a meeting in Georgetown. Leader of the People's Solida-rity Movement (PSM), Bynoe, who is linked to the PNC/R, led this mob.
Corbin noted that the PSM made an application for a march on Wednesday. Corbin said the PSM was a group comprising several organisations in Guyana that were concerned about the mismanagement of the economy and discrimination, and involved representatives of villages along the coast.
He said the PNC/R decided to give support to the organisation, since the party has similar concerns, and agreed to give full backing to the march.
He said that up to late Tuesday afternoon the people on the East Coast were unaware that the police had not given approval for the march. The organisation of the people in the villages would have been better facilitated if the police had granted permission as they usually did, he said.
He pointed out that in the past, the police had never refused permission for marches. Acting Police Commis-sioner, Floyd McDonald said at a press conference yesterday that Bynoe was informed that no permission was given for the march.
Hoyte told reporters he cut short his trip by three days to return to Guyana on Wednesday night because of the incident at the Office of the President.
He said that people had a right to demonstrate and the police ought not to deny them that right. However, he said, it would be understood if there was a particular situation which could justify the refusal of permission to march.
"My contention is the police [were] quite wrong, first of all, not to reply to an application and, secondly, by not replying to indicate a refusal. There are circumstances in which the People's National Congress will march - police permission or no police permission," he declared.
Clarifying the party's position on Bynoe, Hoyte said Bynoe was not a leader of the PNC/R and had only recently re-applied for membership of the party. "Nobody in his wildest dreams, knowing the structure of the People's National Congress, could call Phillip Bynoe a leader of the People's National Congress. He's not!"
Hoyte said the protests would continue "not only in the near future but in the distant future until the government decides to get its act together.
"We are protesting against a government that is corrupt, that is unjust, oppressive, racist, that is not prepared to be fair in its dealings with the citizens of the country [and] a government which believes that its duties are only towards its own supporters. We find that unacceptable."
PNC/R's General Secretary, Oscar Clarke, said the PNC/R had made a formal application for marches beginning yesterday through Sunday, but had received no response up to the time of the press conference.
A source close to the Guyana Police Force said that up to yesterday, permission had not been granted for marches applied for by the PNC/R for yesterday, today, tomorrow and Sunday. The source said this was based on an analysis of what occurred on Wednesday and the fact that the CARICOM Heads of Government were meeting in Guyana at this time.