– “Opposition members were invited for consultations”
Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh said the Gy$220 billion budget should be judged on its merits even as he set the record straight on the Government’s engagements with the Opposition on the estimates.
When Minister Singh began the 2014 budget presentation to the National Assembly on Monday, members of the Alliance For Change (AFC) left the chamber, claiming that there had been no meaningful consultation before the preparation of the budget.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) statement, in dismissing the party’s claim, Dr Singh stated: “It is a matter of public record, we invited the Opposition parties on several occasions, and they failed to turn up. So if there is a lack of consultation, it’s because they refused to make themselves available. There were repeated invitations made and they refused to avail themselves.”
Shortly after presenting the budget to the National Assembly, Minister Singh pointed out that it contains a number of policies, programmes, initiatives and interventions, all of which are in the interest of Guyana and its people. “That must be the ultimate consideration.”
Minister Singh expressed the hope that any national budget brought to the National Assembly would be assessed on its merits. A statement from the AFC after its walkout said it was in protest against the violation of the Constitution and that the “2014 Budget is overshadowed by the ruling of the Chief Justice that the National Assembly may approve or not approve the estimates of the expenditure”.
The AFC also claimed that the budget was being presented by the Minister who disregarded decisions of the National Assembly, and restored funds that were not approved by the said Assembly.
But, the restoration of funds allocated to two state agencies, the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) in 2012 and 2013, was done based on the legal advice received regarding the “preliminary ruling” of acting Chief Justice Ian Chang issued in July 2012, the GINA release stated.
It added that on January 29, 2014, the CJ issued his final ruling on the matter, stating that the Opposition has no right to cut the country’s budget estimates and can only approve or disapprove the entire budget.
Stony silence
Minister Singh had previously stated, however, that a similar claim of no consultations made by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) was a blatant lie and a cheap publicity stunt. This response was made to the claim by APNU Leader David Granger in the Kaieteur News of January 18, in the article titled “APNU says it’s being sidelined from Budget consultation – will force implementation of reforms if concerns not taken on board”.
