Agreement reached for Parliament sittings June 13, 14
AGREEMENT has been reached for the National Assembly to meet on Wednesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 14. Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon, who made the announcement yesterday, said the former will be dedicated to business of the Opposition and the latter that of the Government.
Sittings of the House were previously scheduled for June 6 and 7 but were, subsequently, postponed because key Opposition parliamentarians were out of the jurisdiction, which meant, effectively, that they would not have been able to enjoy their combined one-seat majority.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing, in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, Luncheon said the major business of the Government to be dealt with in the House comprises two motions, Financial Paper Number 9 and one on the declaration of earnings and assets of all parliamentarians.
According to the HPS, the Financial Paper seeks supplementary provisions to offset the budget cuts which the Parliamentary Opposition instituted by using their combined one-seat majority.

Acid test
He said the Financial Paper would be an acid test to determine whether the supplementary provisions would become a panacea for the budget cuts.
However, the government recently mounted a legal challenge to the budget cuts and the case is now before the courts.
The political opposition has dubbed this legal challenge an abuse of the justice system but, asked to comment on that stance, Luncheon declined to give a response, stating that commenting on the matter might result in him being guilty of contempt of court.
Government has moved to the High Court to have the cuts, that amount to close to $21 billion, which were made to the 2012 National Budget by the Parliamentary Opposition, judicially reviewed. The Administration is seeking to have the reduction of the estimates and revenues by the Committee of Supply, particularly as it relates to the Office of the President, Guyana Power & Light, Government Information Agency (GINA), National Communications Network (NCN) and Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) among others, declared an abrogation of the doctrine of separation of powers, unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no legal effect.
The writ which was prepared by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall is also seeking to empower Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh to make withdrawals from the Contingencies Fund in accordance with Article 220 of the Constitution.

Urgent need
That article states that Parliament can authorise the Minister of Finance to take advances from the Contingencies Fund if there is an urgent need for expenditure for which no other provision exists. When such an advance is taken, a supplementary estimate shall, as soon as possible, be placed before the National Assembly.
With respect to the motion on declaration of assets and earnings of parliamentarians, the HPS said it is seeking the enhancement of probity of public figures.
He explained that while it is mandatory for parliamentarians to declare their earnings and assets to the Integrity Commission, the motion seeks to have the President disclose the declarations to the National Assembly.
Luncheon claimed that this aspect was deliberately left out of the legislation during the “Burnhamite era.”
He said the Government will also be moving to have all parliamentarians provide evidence to show that they are compliant and have not been violating the tax regulations and laws.