IN what has been the most anticipated exchange thus far in the 11th Parliament, both Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo are expected to address the National Assembly today on budget 2015. There is some uncertainty among the Chief Whips of the Government and Opposition as to the order in which the two leaders will speak.

Customarily, the list of speakers, including the order of speakers and time given to each speaker, is decided by the Chief Whips. The last three speakers in the debates are the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, and then the Finance Minister closes the debate, since it is his budget that is being debated.
The A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition Government in the National Assembly has opted to change the arrangement, placing the Opposition Leader before the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, whereas the order in previous years was Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, then Finance Minister.
“We are putting the Prime Minister to be the last person to speak for us,” Government Chief Whip Amna Ally told reporters yesterday, adding: “The Opposition Leader [Dr Bharrat Jagdeo] will be before the Prime Minister [Moses Nagamootoo]. This arrangement gives the Prime Minister the right and leverage to respond to any statements made during Jagdeo’s presentation.”
Ally is convinced that there is nothing strange about this arrangement, but Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira has a different view. She said during a press conference held by the PPP in one of Parliament’s committee rooms that she had received a list from her counterpart, Ally, indicating the order of speakers for today’s session.
According to Teixeira, the order presented by Ally in the document was for the Opposition Leader to speak before the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister. She also bemoaned the fact that the Opposition Leader had been limited to 45 minutes for his address.

The Opposition Chief Whip deemed the Government’s actions as “disrespect to the Leader of the Opposition” especially since, according to her, no such restrictions were placed on other Opposition Leaders, including President David Granger who served as Opposition Leader in the 10th Parliament (2011-2015).
Teixeira said Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, has been asked to go through documents of the last budget speeches to see which of the Chief Whips is correct, and also for the Speaker Dr Barton Scotland to verify whether the three final speakers are customarily constrained by time.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo took to the media yesterday to call the Government out for what he said was their backpedalling on promises made recently to work along with the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP).
“I was here in the past and sat on the other side and saw the Leader of the Opposition Mr Desmond Hoyte speak for two hours, and we… voted on the other side to allow him to continue until he finished his speech,” Jagdeo recalled. Jagdeo served from 1992 to 1999 as Junior Finance Minister and then Finance Minister. He ascended to the Presidency in 1999.
Jagdeo accused the Government of attempting to steer away from the traditions in the National Assembly. “They are not only seeking to limit my speech to 45 minutes, but also to move away from the tradition where the Leader of the Opposition is the second-to-last Speaker.”

The Opposition Leader was convinced that the attempt to “muzzle” him came as a result of what he said was the Government’s fear of a number of inconsistencies being exposed from the budget presented by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, who served for some time as Budget Director for some years under the former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
“If I can’t speak in the Chamber, I will speak outside of the Chamber, and if we can’t expose the problems associated with the estimates here, we will do it outside. But I will never allow this Government to muzzle us,” Opposition Leader Jagdeo said.

By Derwayne Wills