HAVING skipped all the sittings of the House in the 11th Parliament, former President-turned-Opposition-Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has said the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will be participating in budget debates in the National Assembly on Monday.

Giving this assurance yesterday at a party press briefing at Freedom House, headquarters of the PPP/C, Jagdeo said that party’s appearance in the National Assembly is in keeping with its primary function — to hold the Government accountable.

Rebutting the contents of the 2015 budget, Jagdeo said he was taken aback by Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s announcement that the Administration intend to spend $97 billion of the $221 billion budget in the last 4 months of the year.

A former Finance Minister himself, Jagdeo said that spending $97 billion in the last quarter translates to the Government spending $800 million per day.

According to the Opposition Leader, the debates might run until mid-September, which would offer the Government only approximately 115 days to spend the $97 billion.

And following the budget debate, the Opposition would be closely scrutinising procurement practices by the Government for the remainder of the year; and Jagdeo has signalled his intention to challenge Minister Jordan for statements he has made regarding the May 11 General and Regional Elections, and other statements against the PPP/C.

“This (elections and corruption) gives us latitude in the debates, because the debates generally are about the economy in the standing order. But once the Minister of Finance introduces elections, corruption and audits, then it opens the door for us to talk about these things in the debates,” the Opposition Leader said.

Nevertheless, he supported the increases given to public servants and the move by the Administration to pursue a Green Economy.

Before Jagdeo announced the PPP/C attendance in Parliament on Monday, that party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee, had spoken on the matter. He had said that the “Mother of all parties” will be participating in the 11th Parliament whenever it was deemed conducive to so do.

In the May 11, 2015 polls, the PPP/C had secured 32 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly, an achievement that shifted its status from minority Government to minority Opposition. Having been in power for some 23 years, that party is now expected to keep the Government on its toes in the National Assembly.

By Ravin Singh