GUYANA’s politics and the depth of its polarization was on full display this past week as the nation bore witness to the annual ritual that at least one Member of Parliament has labelled ‘the complaints forum’.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh presented the 2013 Budget to the nation on March 25, after which the combined opposition and members of Government had been given a week to prepare for the annual debate.

Guyana’s polarised politics was, however, punctuated by one unfortunate incident, which in hindsight could be seen as catalysing some of the most genuine display of humanity from politicians in the 10th Parliament.

On Thursday afternoon, as the debates were in full swing to the point of the Finance Minister being forced to interrupt A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) MP Volda Lawrence in seeking to correct an assertion, APNU MP Richard Allen rose from his seat presumably to use the washroom, but collapsed and fell to the ground.

Such a scene is not a traditional feature of the House, but in time, each member of the House set aside his/her differences if only for a while, and sought to ensure that the MP Richard Allen was afforded the requisite care.

Several doctors occupy seats on both sides of the House, and it was heartening to see each instantly gravitate towards the obviously ailing Allen, seeking to render assistance.

He has since been hospitalised, and is being treated in relation to his blood pressure.
Only a short time earlier, the House, in another display of unity, had observed one minute’s silence in honour of the memory of the former Education Minister, the Reverend Dr. Dale Bisnauth, who had died earlier that morning. Dr Bisnauth had been hospitalised at the Caribbean Heart Institute, located in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital, but had succumbed to his ailment.

But even sickness and death could not keep politicians from being political. This past week saw several allegations being leveled even against the media, which came in for some bashing from both sides of the House, but the first remark that set the tone for the week’s proceedings was a seemingly off-the-cuff remark by Shadow Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge, who, being heckled during his presentation over remarks regarding the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), shouted, “The sugar workers are your problem!”

By the end of the week’s debate, the theme had been recurring, especially from the Government benches, that “sugar workers are all of us problem.”

The soundbyte from the opening day’s presentation was still being addressed even as the closing bell for the weekend was about to be sounded.
Former Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir informed the House that he had been asked to pass on a message to Greenidge. The message, he said, came from an objective personality in society, actor Dereck Gomes, whom he said asked him to tell Greenidge that “sugar workers, bauxite workers, is ‘all of we’ problem. Everybody represents everybody. This is not my side and your side; this is the people’s side.”

Another remark that caught the House’s attention this past week was that of APNU’s Sidney Allicock, who suggested that as a result of corruption, lack of vision and lack of skills, the Rupununi is the most backward place in the Caribbean.

Government Speakers ensured that the MP paid for the remark, as he was castigated left, right and centre by several speakers, including the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms Pauline Sukhai, and Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.

APNU has since dispatched a high level delegation to the Rupununi, Region Nine, and unrolled a massive damage control campaign, which got off to a wrong start after they were greeted at Lethem yesterday by placard-bearing protesters.

The AFC, short of one speaker thus far, fielded as its first Trevor Williams. Williams featured prominently of recent when his absence from a parliamentary committee allowed for the approval of one of the directors of the Auditor General’s Office, a move that had been vehemently protested by the opposition ranks.

The young parliamentarian fell prey to the reports carried in the local media surrounding the forest pact with Norway, whereas the Norwegian Environmental Minister was forced to quickly reject those media reports.
Reading speeches is something generally not tolerated in Parliaments, but there are but a few in the current dispensation who command the oratory skills necessary to pull off what is expected. As such, some of the speakers on both sides of the House would, at times, read from their prepared texts while making very valid points, and in the process lose the interest of any listener as a result of their monotonous reading.

One of the speakers who presented this week and can lay claim to being one of the better speakers in making budget presentations is Education Minister Priya Manickchand.
She had been out of the spotlight for some time as she welcomed her second child, but this could not be detected as she reminded the House that the Budget makes good on several of the promises that the administration had proffered.

The ‘Bishop’, who has since the time of taking up the portfolio of Junior Finance Minister been subject to a barrage of heckles, also gave his presentation this past week, and professed that the budget cannot be taken in isolation, but must rather be seen in the vein of continuity.
Bishop Juan Edghill, in his arguments to the House this past week, was adamant that the only opposition he has heard to the 2013 budget was from the opposition.

Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali lauded the budget as a dream for the nation, and declared, “It’s Guyana’s time…waka-waka!” while APNU’s Joe Harmon called many aspects of the Budget “fluff, fluff, and some more fluff.”

There were calls for objectivity, honesty and consultations, and reference was even made to proverbial ‘black holes’, as the opposition ranks called for institutional strengthening and depoliticization of state entities.

By the end of the week, it was clear that the coming week would not accommodate smooth sailing, as the combined opposition had already indicated that it would not support several of the budget’s measures.

Those clearly identified for the proverbial chopping block include the $17.5B allocation for the Security Sector, which the AFC says will not be approved while Minister Clement Rohee is at the helm of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Another sector that has been identified for non-support is the $11.2B subsidy for the Guyana Power and Light Company, which was described as a black hole on the part of the opposition, as is the case with GuySuCo, which has been identified for a $1B subsidy.

The subventions for GINA and NCN have been under threat even before the presentations started, because the combined opposition hinted at several other allocations they are unhappy with.

This coming week will see presentations from several of the key members of Government and Opposition, including Opposition Leader David Granger, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, and AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, among others.

On Tuesday, the various presentations in the National Assembly would have ended, at which time the House would resolve itself into a Committee of Supply and take a vote on every line of expenditure identified in the budget.