THE national budget is to be presented within a few months to the National Assembly.And Head of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ronald Webster, told the Guyana Chronicle that a meeting with stakeholders is scheduled soon to formalise the sector’s position, which will be presented to Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh.

On the issue of being consulted in the budget preparation process, Webster said: “We maintain dialogue.”

President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Clinton Urling, in an invited comment, added that the GCCI will be part of the PSC’s stakeholder meeting, so one position from the combined private sector will be presented to the Finance Minister.

He said: “We expect to meet soon. The norm is we (the combined private sector) arrange a meeting to agree on a position and formulate one position.”

POLITICAL CONSULTATIONS
On the matter of consultation among political parties, General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party, Clement Rohee, acknowledged on Monday that “from all indications” the joint-Opposition is likely to cut the 2014 Budget.

At a press conference held at Freedom House, he made it clear that the government is aware of its responsibilities in the Budget preparation process and as such the PPP does not have to call for any stakeholder to be included in the consultations going forward.

ANTI-DEVELOPMENTAL AGENDA
Rohee said: “From all indications, they plan to cut the budget this year and continue in every respect with their anti-developmental agenda.
“It’s our duty, however, to dialogue and consult with them. This, we shall continue to do. We hope we manage to persuade them to act in the national interest.
“The alternative is that they will continue to be a cross which every Guyanese will have to bear.”
The General Secretary stressed that engagement on what is a major policy statement and vision for Guyana must be premised on sincerity and based upon trust.

“Our 60 years in political struggle has taught us well to recognise a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he said.

According to him, there is need to intensify collaboration with stakeholders going forward.

Rohee said: “We have always been and we will continue to pursue dialogue and collaborative efforts with every person, stakeholder and political party who shares our vision and our progressive plan of building a modern and united Guyana. This has been our approach over the last 60 years.”

TRIPARTITE TALKS
On the note of the Tripartite Budget Committee, Rohee maintained that the government’s position has always been that preparation of the national budget is the responsibility of the current administration.

Efforts at tripartite talks were made since the commitment given by President Donald Ramotar in 2011.

However, these were challenged by the inability of parties to reach a consensus.
The last meeting, the 2013 budget consultations, between the three parties ended on a negative note and as a result the opposition parties gutted the budget by $31.4 billion from $208.8 billion to $177.4 billion.

CONSENSUS CALLS
Both major political parties have since made public statements on the need for stakeholders to collaborate on the way forward, in the best interest of the Guyanese people.
The ruling party’s General Secretary, at a prior press conference, made it clear that the realisation of democratic consolidation and participatory democracy, tenets of party principles, is grounded in the need to build trust at the political level and create political space for all.

He added that building trust among local political parties is a work in progress.
Rohee explained that in the years of the late Desmond Hoyte, trust among the two main political factions was being established, but the “little trust” achieved between the parties “for some reason or other” soon dissipated.

Days after his statement, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), called for a new ‘social contract’ to be agreed on in order to address Guyana’s pressing political, economic and social problems and to foster greater unity, security and progress.

The new agreement proposed by the APNU focuses on allowing major sections of society – including the government, political opposition, trade unions, private sector and civil society – to settle on a broad national programme to move the country forward, as it relates to reaching a consensus on the goals of national development; establishing a sustainable institutional architecture and creating effective policy instruments for the achievement of the objectives of the ‘contract’.

The ruling party, according to Rohee, is currently reviewing this.

Attempts by the Guyana Chronicle to secure a comment from the Minister of Finance on the status of the budget preparations proved futile.
Written By Vanessa Narine