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A MEETING between government and the political opposition a few hours before consideration of the Estimates in the National Assembly yesterday had no impact on the opposition’s intent to cut the $208.8 billion, 2013 national budget. 
The Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) advanced a menu of 11 issues, one of which focused on constitutionality, but after a three-hour dialogue with the government side, led by President Donald Ramotar, the need for broader consultation was agreed.
The Head of State, who had recently argued that the basis for the opposition’s intentions to cut the budget was unjustified, was accompanied by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali and Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira in yesterday’s meeting.
“Our government is always ready for consultation. We have had consultations with them, but I think they need broader consultation or a longer period of time in looking at some issues which we have agreed to,” President Ramotar said in an invited comment late yesterday afternoon.
There were however, some reservations about certain issues put forward by the opposition which President Ramotar argued are in violation of fundamental principles such as collective bargaining and cannot be resolved by “us getting together”.
APNU’s shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, who joined the party’s leader David Granger and member Joe Harmon, and AFC members Khemraj Ramjattan and David Patterson, argued that the opposition remains unrelenting.
“We are saying that we want to see a budget in place that takes place in a context in which the constitution and so forth are respected,” Greenidge said in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
According to Greenidge, the opposition is still demanding answers on important issues and that while some answers will be supplied, the party believes some will not be justifiable and in that case will result in amendments.
Greenidge, who was blamed for his failure to attend scheduled meetings in the lead-up to the unveiling of the budget, is arguing that the dialogue process should have taken place over a long period.
At the culmination of the budget debate, Minister Singh in his concluding remarks berated the opposition, arguing that budget 2013 outlines initiatives that are similar to those found in the manifestos of APNU and AFC.
Amending the budget, President Ramotar said, will starve the country of resources and slow down the pace of development.
With utterances in the past by the opposition and a recent AFC motion to size down this year’s budget with proposed cuts to key government agencies, and projects, there is likely to be a repetition of the harrowing experience last year.
The 2013 national budget provides for a 25 percent increase in old age pension and annual electricity subsidy; reduction in property tax for certain categories of small business owners; reduction in personal income tax by 3.3 percent; and tax exemptions for mortgage payments of up to $30M. (GINA)
The Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) advanced a menu of 11 issues, one of which focused on constitutionality, but after a three-hour dialogue with the government side, led by President Donald Ramotar, the need for broader consultation was agreed.The Head of State, who had recently argued that the basis for the opposition’s intentions to cut the budget was unjustified, was accompanied by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali and Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira in yesterday’s meeting.
“Our government is always ready for consultation. We have had consultations with them, but I think they need broader consultation or a longer period of time in looking at some issues which we have agreed to,” President Ramotar said in an invited comment late yesterday afternoon.
There were however, some reservations about certain issues put forward by the opposition which President Ramotar argued are in violation of fundamental principles such as collective bargaining and cannot be resolved by “us getting together”.
APNU’s shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge, who joined the party’s leader David Granger and member Joe Harmon, and AFC members Khemraj Ramjattan and David Patterson, argued that the opposition remains unrelenting.
“We are saying that we want to see a budget in place that takes place in a context in which the constitution and so forth are respected,” Greenidge said in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
According to Greenidge, the opposition is still demanding answers on important issues and that while some answers will be supplied, the party believes some will not be justifiable and in that case will result in amendments.
Greenidge, who was blamed for his failure to attend scheduled meetings in the lead-up to the unveiling of the budget, is arguing that the dialogue process should have taken place over a long period.
At the culmination of the budget debate, Minister Singh in his concluding remarks berated the opposition, arguing that budget 2013 outlines initiatives that are similar to those found in the manifestos of APNU and AFC.
Amending the budget, President Ramotar said, will starve the country of resources and slow down the pace of development.
With utterances in the past by the opposition and a recent AFC motion to size down this year’s budget with proposed cuts to key government agencies, and projects, there is likely to be a repetition of the harrowing experience last year.
The 2013 national budget provides for a 25 percent increase in old age pension and annual electricity subsidy; reduction in property tax for certain categories of small business owners; reduction in personal income tax by 3.3 percent; and tax exemptions for mortgage payments of up to $30M. (GINA)
