– President Ramotar
THE scheduled meeting between the Government and the Opposition convened on a cordial and productive note yesterday, preceding the consideration of the Estimates of Expenditure in the National Assembly. President Donald Ramotar, who led the government side, did not disclose much detail about the meeting, except to say that there are plans to
continue the engagement.
The meeting at the Office of the President included Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira.
The Opposition delegation comprised A Partnership for National Unity’s Leader and Opposition Leader, David Granger, and members, Rupert Roopnarine and Carl Greenidge.
The meeting follows a previous one that was held Tuesday evening at the conclusion of the heated debate in the Parliament on the 2012 National Budget of $192.8B. This was the fulfillment of a commitment given by Minister Singh to APNU Member of Parliament, Mrs. Volda Lawrence, who asked whether there was willingness on the government side to meet with the representatives of APNU and the Alliance for Change to address concerns regarding the 2012 estimates to provide for its smooth passage in the House.
Minister Singh, in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA), also recalled the assurance he gave at the last meeting of the economic sub-committee established under the inter-parliamentary party dialogue forum that government will be willing to consider any written submissions it received in relation to the budget.
At that meeting, he said the government had made clear its willingness to meet with appointed representatives of the opposition parties providing, that their concerns are documented in advance to aid productive discussions. No such submissions were received subsequent to that invitation. (GINA)