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The Sunday Chronicle has been informed by reliable sources that both the APNU and AFC have approached the relevant Parliamentary Special Select Committee with a view to having voting delayed.
Four of the six days allotted for the debates have been concluded with the final speakers wrapping up this aspect of the process tomorrow and Tuesday after which the House would resolve itself into a committee of supply to consider and vote on the expenditures individually.
The Chronicle was told that both the AFC and APNU are looking to have the House ‘take a break’ after the debate thereby delaying the voting or committee of supply stage.
Several political observers and analysts have pointed to the fact that the delay tactic illustrates unpreparedness on the part of the political opposition having failed to discredit the 2013 National Budget.
According to reports, the combined opposition sees the delay as ‘time to re-draft an approach’ in light of the failed attempts to discredit the budget.
Following the close of last Friday’s debate session, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh, in an invited comment, said he could not pronounce on the moves by the political opposition but did express optimism that the opposition would not be seeking to invoke any delay tactics.
Dr Singh told the Chronicle that what has clearly emerged over the course of the past week, as the nation listened to the debates on the National Expenditures for 2013, is that “the Opposition has no substantive arguments against the budget.”
“They really have tendered no substantive arguments,” said Dr Singh and accused the opposition speakers thus far of “resorting to old and overused opposition arguments.”
According to the Finance Minister, the speakers on the opposition benches have presented no real objective assessment of the 2013 budget and, rather, the arguments proffered are very ill informed and devoid of facts.
There was “very little said of relevance to the 2013 budget,” said Dr Singh, who also called this past week’s debate presentations on the part of the political Opposition “very unfortunate” and “a missed opportunity on their part.”
In contrast, he said, the speakers in support of the budget in the government benches have, in fact, taken advantage of the opportunities provided.
“In fact, there were very strong arguments put forward in support of the 2013 expenditures,” the Finance Minister commented.
Dr. Singh applauded the government speakers saying that they would have taken advantage of the opportunities presented to argue the merits of the 2013 budget and its measures of support to the people.
The Finance Minister said he is hopeful that with the weekend break, the rank and file in the Opposition benches would return imbued with a stronger sense of objectivity.
He also expressed optimism that the remaining opposition members, after presenting their arguments over the first two days of the coming week, would proceed to a timely and favourable vote.
“I hope they would not be invoking any tactic to delay the budget on which the entire nation is waiting,” Dr. Singh stated.
Thus far, there has been “absolutely no justification for cutting the budget,” the Finance Minister posited.
He said Guyanese across the country have been paying rapt attention to the debate process which has been, in some cases, streamed live via online media outlets.
The Guyanese people, Dr. Singh said, will be the best judge of any frustration or delaying tactic by the Opposition with regard to the end result of this coming week’s proceedings as it relates to the timely passage of the budget.
