ATTORNEY-GENERAL Anil Nandlall has expressed confidence that the 2012 Budget-cut appeal notwithstanding, the Chief Justice’s ruling that the National Assembly and its Committee of Supply do not have the legal and constitutional mandate to amend or reduce the Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure of Guyana for any given year will prevail.The court has ruled, inter alia, that “…the amendment and reduction of the Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure of Guyana for the year 2012 by the National Assembly, through its Committee of Supply, was an abrogation of the doctrine of separation of powers, and hence, unconstitutional, unlawful and void because the National Assembly, by such reduction and amendment, was encroaching on the function of the Executive as exercised by the Minister of Finance.”

The joint Opposition had vengefully and wantonly slashed the 2012 National Budget by some $20.8B on the grounds that it was in contravention of the laws of Guyana, which created havoc with major transformational development projects that were either on stream, or due for near immediate implementation, as well as threatened the livelihoods of thousands of Guyanese.
The Government was forced to take the matter to court, and on 29th January of this year, Chief Justice Chang ruled that the National Assembly has no authority to cut the National Budget, which was a repeat of a preliminary ruling he had made in June 2012, when he had determined that the National Assembly merely had the mandate to either approve or disapprove of the National Estimates, not to amend them.

Following the ruling, Parliament Office issued a statement that affirmed, quoted here in parts: “The Ruling of the Hon. Chief Justice, Mr. Ian Chang, C.C.H., S.C., of January 29, 2014, provides an interpretation of the Rules and Standing Orders of the National Assembly relative to their conformity with the Constitution of Guyana,…..Article 171 of the Guyana Constitution is the same as those provisions in the Constitutions of all Commonwealth nations as the Standing Orders and Rules of the Parliaments of Commonwealth Nations…The doctrine of the separation of powers is the foundation of Guyana’s, and all parliamentary democracies, which recognises that the rule of law must be respected and upheld. The principle of comity dictates that the three branches of government — the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial — are all separate and equal, and are to respect the rights and authority of each other.”

Despite the AG’s optimism, however, in the ‘new dispensation’ shaping the Tenth Parliament, the joint Opposition has played many games with the nation’s welfare, using the National Assembly as a chessboard, with the Guyanese people as pawns, and the nation is holding its collective breath that the general good becomes the primary consideration of MPs as they prepare to debate the Budget this afternoon.

This period is one of hope and renewal of all the main religions in Guyana; and the great hope of the people is that good sense and amity prevail over egos and power-hunger so that the entire nation can benefit.
Guyanese are above all a religious people, and as  we celebrate Navraatri and Easter festivals, with the common messages of peace, love and God’s overarching love for the family of humanity  prevailing, as a nation we need to reflect on the underlying messages that are the thread work of each religion in Guyana and then decide on our focus for the future, for ourselves as individuals, and also as responsible citizens of this nation whose foremost priority is the upward mobility of national developmental graphs which could only be sustained if there is unity in the land, and a recognition that fighting between ourselves is retrograde at every level of national development .
In local parlance, ‘it takes two hands to clap’, and while the government can make monies available and create synergies and policies for development, this cannot eventuate optimally if there is constant bickering in the National Assembly by national leaders and strategies formulated to impede the development momentum that will catalyze Guyana on a trajectory that will lead to faster and expanded economic growth and greater social development.
Many  Guyanese will be attending temples and churches during this festive season that yet impels need for reflection on the spiritual aspect of these celebrations; and one wonders whether this customary attendance at houses of worship during this season are prompted by merely ritualistic adherence to the mores of tradition, a fashion parade, a social outing, or whether the actual spirit of the season will be observed with the solemn consideration of the uplifting connotations  inherent in the observances of these significant holidays, or holy days.
If the latter is the dominant reason for worship then, with such a collective voice raised in supplication to the great and merciful Father of the Universe, then our Lord is bound to bestow his blessings and beneficence on our nation and lead us onto a pathway of peace, progress and prosperity.
May God guide the considerations of the National Budget in Parliament to a conclusion that is satisfactory to all stakeholders in the national construct.