PARLIAMENT on February 16 was drawn into a gridlock as the Opposition parties refused to accommodate the Government in its bid to pass Financial Papers 7 and 8, for 2011.
For the Opposition to ask the Government to re-submit same with more details, is hogwash! Minister Ashni Singh was at the time seeking approval for expenditures from the contingencies fund, first tabled in the National Assembly on Feb. 10.  These tabled papers are for supplementary monies already spent by the Government, in 2011.
Paper 7 was passed after it was debated and amended, since four heads were not approved. The Opposition refused to offer any support regarding some aspects of paper 7.
The combined opposition used their one-seat advantage to block paper 8.
Can you imagine any Opposition party, anywhere in the world, refusing to honour the inauguration of a President? This was one of the provisions rejected by the Opposition!
And why refuse to honour our own fellow Guyanese, who, over time, have contributed so much to the development and welfare of this nation?
This behaviour is reckless, appalling, absurd and unheard of.
The presidential inauguration; the awardees’ ceremony , which has been absent from the NCC stage for approximately five years; honorarium payments to staff of the General Register Office for working overtime to provide 18,000 birth certificates to Guyanese from all walks of life, so they could cast their ballots, were rejected. Also on the list of rejects, was money allocated to  land preparation for the building of a Specialty Hospital.
What is wrong with these people, disguised as Opposition leaders?
If this is the manner in which they are behaving now, what can be expected come budget 2012?