Veteran Guyanese political figure Robert Corbin, a former leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and one-time Opposition Leader of Guyana, has passed away at the age of 78, his family confirmed on Sunday.
Charles Corbin, the late politician’s brother, verified that Robert Corbin died at a public hospital in Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana. Born Robert Herman Orlando Corbin, and widely known to his colleagues by the nickname “Brezhnev”, Corbin built a decades-long career in Guyanese politics that shaped the country’s modern opposition landscape.
Corbin first entered political organizing in the 1970s, when he joined the PNCR’s youth wing. His rapid rise through the party ranks saw him earn a seat on the party’s Central Executive Committee before eventually taking on the role of PNCR General Secretary. In 2002, he stepped into the top leadership position of the PNCR, succeeding the late former Guyanese President Desmond Hoyte, and held the post until 2012.
Between 1985 and 1992, Corbin served as Deputy Prime Minister of Guyana during the final PNC-led administration before the party’s defeat in the country’s first open, free and fair national election held in nearly three decades. After leaving government, Corbin remained a central figure in the country’s opposition movement. Both the PNCR and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) have long recognized Corbin and late WPA co-leader Dr Rupert Roopnaraine as the key architects behind the formation of A Partnership for National Unity, a major opposition coalition in Guyanese politics.
Outside of his political career, Corbin was a practicing attorney-at-law. He is survived by his wife Carol, a retired senior officer who served at both the CARICOM Secretariat and Guyana’s Public Utilities Commission, and their five children.