A move to delay passage of supplementary estimates
THE sitting of the National Assembly which was scheduled for May 30 and May 31, and was postponed to June 6 and 7 is believed to be as a result of key opposition members of parliament being out of the jurisdiction, which means they would not have their one seat majority in effect. Speaking at his post-Cabinet weekly press briefing yesterday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Roger Luncheon, said that the government is of the view that further postponement of the sitting of the National Assembly could be a move to further delay the passage of a financial paper for supplementary estimates.
Dr Luncheon noted that the budget cuts imposed by the combined parliamentary opposition with their one-seat majority could be undone by the supplementary estimates, and this gives government good reason to suspect something sinister is afoot on the part of the opposition.
He indicated that apart from the financial supplementary paper, there are other issues listed on the agenda which could have been dealt with, despite the opposition’s major spokesman on finance, Carl Greenidge, being out of the jurisdiction.
The HPS intimated that the sloth in dealing with the current financial paper tabled by the government could be an “acid test” in the handling of future financial papers.
Lashing out at the budget cuts made by the combined parliamentary opposition, Dr Luncheon said these are unjustifiable and bear no rationale, noting that the government has been able to pay salaries in May for employees in the agencies affected by the cuts, but has been unable to meet utilities bills.
Refuting claims by the political opposition and their commentators that the Office of the President is staffed by over 120 advisers, Dr Luncheon said these are “idle public remarks”, exposing the limitation of the opposition and assaulting the intelligence of the average Guyanese.
The HPS rhetorically queried where would the Office of the President accommodate 120 advisers?
The blocking of funding for the ERC makes the political opposition rhetoric of protection of rights an empty one, Dr Luncheon asserted, as the right to work in the case of the ERC workers has been violated.
He said the silence of the so-called protectors of rights on the issue of the ERC workers being put on the breadline is very noticeable.
Asked whether government is contemplating relocating ERC workers in other agencies, Dr Luncheon explained that the ERC is a constitutional body, and does not fall in the realm of the public service, and therefore it would not be possible to reassign them.
He added that the framers of the Constitution did not foresee a situation where funding for the ERC would be unavailable. “Once funding is not available, its future is sealed,” the HPS stressed.
Following the presentation of a $192.8B National Budget for this fiscal year, the opposition held firm on its words to cut the government proposed subventions to several state agencies and developmental projects,  resulting in the budget being slashed by some $20B and leaving the jobs of hundreds of workers in grave uncertainty.