Opposition confusing itself

THE Opposition in its effort to confuse the nation regarding its position on the national budget has ended up confusing itself.Old Kai is not surprised at the latest salvo by the opposition against the government regarding the preparation of the 2014 national budget. It is yet another example why I have contended all along that our opposition is incapable of managing our nation. To support this contention are the first two sentences which appeared in a Kaieteur News article on the issue:
* The opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) says that it remains hopeful that consultations with government over the 2014 budget would be reached.
* However hope is rapidly draining away taking into consideration that it will be presented in March and budget arrangements and submissions by the respective ministries would have been done already while no substantial talks between the opposition and government have commenced.
So on one hand, you have the first sentence indicating that there has been ‘no consultation or talks’ between the opposition and government and the second sentence, indicating that there ‘have been talks or consultations’.
Then we are told that Leader of APNU David Granger expressed that ‘real face to face consultation has not taken place’. But he later clarifies that ‘there has been some engagement but the concerns of APNU have not been taken on board by the Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh’.
A short moment later, Mr. Granger added that the government is playing a very “dangerous game” in denying them the opportunity to contribute meaningfully through the consultative process and feels that the budget which is in its advanced stages of preparation has not incorporated the main concerns of APNU.

Spot the difference in the last two sentences?
* ‘the concerns of APNU have not been taken on board’
* ‘has not incorporated the main concerns of APNU’

These are two vastly different statements being made by the Opposition leader at a single APNU press conference.
The opposition soap opera gets even more interesting as Granger admits that ‘he recognises the responsibility of the executive (Government) for the final preparation of the budget’ but he also indicates that he is demanding that a ‘tripartite Budget Commission (which will include APNU and AFC) be established’ which will control the preparation of the budget.
Notice here the sudden shift by the opposition from ‘consultation’ to ‘controlling’ how the budget is crafted.
And, what would be the fate of our country and people, if the PPP/C Government does not surrender to all the demands of the joint opposition?
Granger tells the nation that “…we don’t go to the National Assembly to cut, we go to the National Assembly to force the government to implement reforms and that is what is going to happen unless the government calls us in, consults with us and takes our concerns on board.”
So in essence, this ‘consultation thing’ is just a pappy show for them, as their ultimate objective is to ‘force Government to give in to all their demands’. I hope the people producing the Oxford dictionary are taking note of this new meaning to the word consultation provided by Guyana’s political opposition.
What we have established thus far from what the opposition has told us is that the Government has consulted with them, some not all of their recommendations were taken on board (no doubt the ones that were feasible) but they will force Government to implement all of their demands and if not, they will cut the 2014 budget.
However, their excuse for slashing the budget will be that there was no “transparency or the money is not being used for a proper purpose”. We are also told that they recognise that Government is the sole authority in preparing the budget but they want control of that process now.
And in all of this, Mr. Granger still has the temerity to say that the government is playing a very “dangerous game”.
Old Kai is not done as yet. It was pleasing to hear the opposition through Mr. Granger admit that “The budget is a very complicated document with three huge volumes like an encyclopaedia and it calls for a lot of data, people cannot simply produce a shopping list and expect that shopping list to be accepted.”
Is this the same Granger? I seem to recall a minute ago, he had threatened to slash the budget if their effort to force Government to implement all their demands in the budget was not met!
If the opposition cannot make up their minds about what exactly is their position at a simple press conference, I can just imagine their utter confusion in their engagement with government on the budget. How can they expect anyone to take them seriously when every minute they keep changing their stance on a particular issue?
Then to top it off, we are greeted with the revelation from Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, that the opposition has not been responding to Government’s invitation to provide further inputs in the budget.
Dr. Singh tells us that his ‘most recent email dated January 13, 2014 indicated Government’s invitation to meet on Budget 2014 and requested Mr. Greenidge to suggest a date during the past or coming week. The email was also copied to Messrs. David Granger, Lance Carberry,  Khemraj Ramjattan, Dr. Roger Luncheon, and Ms. Gail Teixeira. The email also contained copies of documents to be discussed. To date my invitation has been met with stony silence by the Messrs. Granger and Greenidge.’
I rest my case!