From the inception of the budget cuts the parliamentary opposition gave a clear indication of the direction they would be following and what happened in the National Assembly on Thursday was just a confirmation of this direction.
As the good old Guyanese saying tells us: “Wha yuh can [see] in daylight yuh nah ga fuh use torchlight to find.”
But prior to the budget cuts, the opposition had already signalled the road they intend to go down when they used their one-seat majority and hogged both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions which has been unprecedented in any parliamentary democracy in the Commonwealth.
The blocking of Financial Paper No. 9 shows clearly that the parliamentary opposition is hellbent on using their combined one-seat majority to undermine and sabotage the government’s development programme, and if they succeed in doing so the government will not be able to satisfy the needs of the people. And this would obviously frustrate the populace and when another election comes around the electorate would not vote in large numbers for the ruling party and this would enable the opposition to take over the government.
But the opposition would do well to consider whether all those persons who have lost their jobs as a result of the budget cuts they imposed, along with their families, relatives and friends would be inclined for the opposition which engineered the loss of their jobs. Another old Guyaese saying sums it up nicely: “Whey yuh dig hole fuh yuh mattie, yuh does end up inside.”
The November elections last year brought a new political configuration and all Guyanese were expectant that this would have brought an end to political antagonism, ushering in a political atmosphere characterised by dialogue and political cooperation. In fact, one of the acts of President Donald Ramotar when he took office was to extend an olive branch to the opposition.
However, while the opposition said they want to work in a spirit of cooperation for the betterment of Guyana, their subsequent actions contradict what they said. It is said when you want war you talk peace and perhaps this is the course the opposition intends to pursue.
Most level-headed Guyanese, be they supporters or opponents of the ruling party would be disappointed at the crass display of arrogance by the parliamentary opposition.
In the first instance, the opposition unsuccessfully attempted to disallow the submission of Financial Paper N0. 9 as the Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman, rejected their request. On this note, the Speaker should be commended for handing down an even-handed ruling.
Instead of being guided by the Speaker’s ruling, that the items could be reconsidered, Opposition spokesman on finance, Carl Greenidge, attempted, once again, to block the Assembly from considering the items, on the ground that the National Assembly had already ruled on these items on a previous occasion.
The opposition, having failed to block the financial paper then used its one-seat majority to prevent it from being passed. Perhaps this is another unprecedented act in any parliamentary democracy in the Commonwealth.
But it is important to note that this very opposition said that the budget cuts could be undone by the submission of supplementary estimates.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh sums it up aptly: “The opposition’s attempt to object to the reconsideration of these items, their defiance to the Speaker’s ruling, and their eventual disapproval of the items concerned without asking a single question is ample proof that the opposition is totally insincere about reconsidering any of the items cut”
So the die is cast and the government should seriously reconsider its modus operandi with regard to its engagements with the opposition, because they demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are insincere and cannot be trusted.