THE budget presentations were concluded in the wee hours of Saturday morning; but throughout the week, members from both sides did their part to make the occasion a lively exercise, while outlining their visions for the country.

And in all of this, there were some serious insults and accusations traded, with some being less than honourable from the Honourable members of the House.

On more than one occasion, the Speaker had to remind the members of Standing Order 41 (4), which prohibits them from using derogatory remarks in their presentations.

From the look of things throughout the debate, the Government side appeared ready and prepared to deal with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and several former ministers.

And for their part, Members on the Opposition benches seemed preoccupied at using every available opportunity to get at Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and his close friend, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan.

Targeting of the two senior Government officials was probably understandable, as both are former members of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which is now in Opposition. But Ramjattan and Nagamootoo, who appeared composed throughout the debate seem to have had their ears trained to detect the “right” heckle to launch their telling rebuttals.

With attention on him given the increase in serious crimes, Ramjattan spoke about measures the Administration is employing to bring the situation under control. From what the House heard, it was a full arsenal, complete with horses and dogs; and all was going well until members on the Opposition benches shouted: “We have no confidence in Ramjattan!”
That statement appeared to be fair, if not fine, until another member mocked the use of dogs and horses in the crime fight.

That was probably the heckle Ramjattan was waiting patiently to hear, and with the response of a tornado, he retorted: “We will use dogs and horses, but will ignore goats.”

The Vice President has been taking blows for the crime situation in the country, but he seems determined to succeed in his post as Public Security Minister, and to prove to his critics that “goat nah bite me.”

At times during the debate, Ramjattan would recline in his chair, but he would quickly sit up when a member of the Government’s side speaks about a project that has telling symptoms of corruption. Amidst heckling from the Opposition benches, the Vice President was heard retorting, “Thief! Jail them!”

Prime Minister Nagamootoo was, on several occasions, greeted with a rather unique, if not novel, heckle: “Meow!” The expression was at first bewildering, until Opposition Member of Parliament Dharamkumar Seeraj claimed that Nagamootoo was transformed from a Bengal Tiger into a cat, being in the coalition. He perhaps was comparing the Prime Minister’s present demeanour with his days in the PPP/C before 2011.

According to Seeraj, a certain “Mighty Joe” had tempered Nagamootoo’s powers in the coalition, and Nagamootoo is not as big as he was envisioned to be. The statement was political grandstanding at best, and one of many from both sides of the House. Such statements had nothing to do with any substantive issue in the budget.

Nagamootoo, for his part, did not take the matter lightly. He registered with the Speaker his protest at the demeaning remarks, only to be countered with claims from the Opposition benches that he was being “thin-skinned.” Not one who is easily lost for words, the Prime Minister responded with a strong retort: “Not only am I thick-skinned, I can say that I don’t mind being a cat, because it’s necessary to deal with those rats over there.”

The quip evoked laughter from both sides of the House, but PPP/C MP Juan Edghill was quick to point out that he does not fit the likeness or description of any vermin. He spoke with great authority, having the assurances of “the Lord.”

Aside from those exchanges, one member proposed to find a desirable partner for the other, and another member reprimanded his colleagues from the other side for their perceived “doltishness,” none of which was good for social cohesion.

But the latter member could be forgiven, as he withdrew the comment and cautioned his ‘opponents’ to “rest themselves.”

In all of this, one could not understand why a former minister from the Opposition benches would want to strongly advocate for government’s Region 5 Representative Jennifer Wade to become a minister, and for Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence to be the Minister of Finance.

But those low blows, high blows and political statements neither overshadowed nor detracted from the excellent presentations emanating from the floor, among which were Minister within the Ministry of Health, Dr Karen Cummings, who, with command and persuasion, spoke about the Government’s vision for the health sector and plans to make health care accessible to all.
Minister within the Ministry of Education, Nicolette Henry, spoke eloquently on plans to produce all-round students in the education system. Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was persuasive on fixing the weaknesses in the education system. Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, cogently articulated a case for participatory democracy and inclusive governance; and Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin, was most lucid in outlining plans to enhance business and create a level playing field.

There were, of course, other good presentations from the Government benches, and there were some commanding presentations from the Opposition side of the House.

Mrs Indranie Chandarpal must be singled out for reminding the Government of a number of dismissals that appeared to be politically influenced; Dr Vindhya Persaud pointed out that enough was not being done for women, and she spoke on the ill-effects of crime; Mrs Yvonne Pearson called for focus on development and advocacy for a continuation of Amerindian development; and the veteran trade unionist Komal Chand proposed recommendations to improve the fortunes of GuySuCo.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and Finance Minister Winston Jordan spoke passionately about their visions for a better Guyana, and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo brought his wealth of experience as an economist to the debate.

It was also good to see that Jagdeo, a former President, did not participate in the pointless and empty hecklings that came from both sides of the House.

From the outset, the debates had appeared to be a showdown between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition; but they ended for the Opposition with a walkout in protest of a decision to not allow Jagdeo to be the penultimate speaker in the debate. The Government’s decision, the PPP/C said, is a breach of an established parliamentary convention.

During the five days of debate, conservatively speaking, about 25 per cent of all the presentations did not focus directly on budget considerations, having little or nothing at all to do with the budget.

If rumours and allegations and their responses were an economic sector, undoubtedly it would have been the biggest contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

By Tajeram Mohabir