THERE is no nexus between the current demands of the combined opposition and the recent $31.4B ‘assault’ on the 2013 Budget.
At least, that is according to Head of State, Presdent Donald Ramotar, who,

on Friday last during a media briefing at Office of the President, released details of closed meetings with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) over budget differences.
The President told the media that even the opposition had conceded that their demands are not directly related to the 2013 Budget.
“(Those demands) had nothing to do with the budget. In fact, at the beginning of the meetings we had, I asked what the nexus is, and they said there was none.”
President Ramotar has since disclosed that many of the opposition demands are things that had been raised in the past, but not much has changed to allow for progress on those issues.
According to the President, among the 11 demands made by the Opposition is a reduction of the toll on the Berbice River Bridge. President Ramotar said it was again explained to the Opposition members that the bridge forms part of a private company, and what government had done is to complement the service with that of a ferry that operates at great cost to government.
He said the current toll on the Berbice Bridge is no different from what it would have cost a commuter to cross the river using the previous ferry service.
The President said the fact of the matter is that the travel time has been significantly reduced as a result of the bridge.
Most of the other demands, he said, are related to things that require time to implement. Some of the demands “were impossible to deal with at short notice. He said his government remains open to talking with the opposition on the outstanding matters.
The President reminded that Government has always been open to talks, “but they are the ones who broke off the talks.”
The Head of State did indicate that some of the demands being made by the opposition have nothing to do with him, but in fact lie in the realm of the National Assembly. One such is the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission.
The selection and nomination of commissioners are finalized at the level of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, currently chaired by Greenidge.
Ramotar said, “For those where the buck stops with me, I intend to try to resolve the issues as early as possible.”
In an attempt to reach out to the opposition, President Ramotar said, “I want my partners in the opposition to appreciate my position on some of these things, and hopefully we can settle on them and move forward.”
He reminded that he and the opposition parties have held some level of consultation on a number of outstanding matters, but there is yet to be agreement. These, Ramotar said, include matters related to the Chancellor of the Judiciary as well as the Chief Justice.
Turning his attention to the proposed resuscitation of the tripartite budget talks, the President said that while he is not overly optimistic, the door is open to talks. He said that, with the meetings of the tripartite committee, there is still no guarantee that the combined opposition would not, in the coming year, slash another budget.
The Head of State reminded that, over the past years, there have been a number of attempts by the Government to address the concerns of the opposition regarding the many projects that it still cut from the Budget.
Ramotar used as an example the many briefings he had with the combined opposition and the technical personnel related to the US$840M Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project. “They are not giving me a great amount of reason to be confident about some of these things.”
Drawing reference to the briefings held with the opposition over the projects, Ramotar said, “We also told them that when they would have consulted with their technical people, then we are prepared to answer further questions on the project…We never heard another question from them.”
President Ramotar said the Opposition had failed to show up at some of the budget consultation meetings. He reminded also that, at one point, APNU Finance point man, Carl Greenidge could not be located.
“The paper trail is there,” said Ramotar, pointing to the plethora of documents that had been provided to the combined opposition parties on the projects, inclusive of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project.
The President said he has nonetheless acquiesced to the request by Leader of the Political Opposition, Brigadier (rtd) David Granger, to resume the talks at an earlier stage in the budget preparations. “I have no problem asking the Minister of Finance (Dr Ashni Singh) to have these consultations at an earlier period with all the stakeholders.”
President Ramotar said that, this time around, he is looking forward to having the consultations, not just with the political parties, but with the various ‘interest groups’ as well.
“Yes, I am ready,” he said, as he reiterated his willingness to resume talks with the opposition members, which he said could only foster greater possibilities of finding common positions.