The presentation of the 2025 Budget Estimates in the National Assembly by Senior Minister of Finance in the Office of the President Dr. Ashni Singh has placed the political opposition in a serious dilemma. It is clear that much thought was put into the budget at the preparatory stages involving a wide range of stakeholders which has left little, if any room for opposition criticism.
Given, however, that this is an election year, the political opposition will no doubt seek to find ways to attack the budget even if it has to scrape deep down in the barrel of lies, half-truths and misinformation. PNC/R Leader Aubrey Norton in a post-presentation speech, while acknowledging that the budget envelope is big, already sought to pour ‘cold water’ on it by asserting that there is ‘little for the people’.

This assertion rings hollow in the face of the pro-people character of the budget and the huge sums of money allocated to enhance the standard of living of ordinary people, in particular low-income families and the more vulnerable groups including pensioners.

What the Finance Minister took pains to highlight is the litany of unfulfilled promises made by the previous APNU+AFC administration during its tenure in government, which it has to be said, was illegally and unconstitutionally extended by nearly two years. The Granger administration, as is popular knowledge, was removed from office by way of a successful no-confidence motion but it stubbornly refused to demit office by way of constitutional and legal subterfuge.

Comparing the performances of the APNU+AFC regime to that of the PPP/C is like comparing ‘chalk to cheese.’ Unlike the previous administration, the PPP/C administration has fulfilled all of its manifesto promises to the electorate and has, in fact, surpassed several of the targets it set during its tenure so far. This is especially evident in such areas as employment creation, house lot allocations and salary increase for public sector employees. For the first time in over a decade, multi-year agreements were signed by unions representing workers in the public sector and also in the sugar industry.

The 2025 Budget presentation has unmasked, wittingly or unwittingly, the utter bankruptcy of the APNU+AFC in terms of its credibility as a political entity and its capacity to govern in the best interest of the Guyanese people. Its plethora of new taxes and the elimination of subsidies on electricity and water for pensioners will no doubt leave a lasting stain on its legacy as a party which purportedly claims to have the people’s interest at heart.

What it boils down to in the final analysis is the question of trust between citizens and their elected leaders. This is especially so as the country heads into another General and Regional elections due later in the year. If the performance of the APNU+AFC during its previous term in office is anything to go by, it has an uphill task to convince the Guyanese people that it can be taken seriously regarding new promises. As our experience has demonstrated, it is easy to make promises but fulfilling those promises remains the acid test of effective governance.

The PPP/C administration has demonstrated that it has the capacity to deliver on its promises as the recent budget presentation so eloquently demonstrated. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the political opposition which continues to make promises that it knows it will be unable to fulfill. The proof of the pudding, it is said, is in the eating. Both the APNU and the AFC have failed miserably to deliver the social and economic goods they promised to the people of Guyana.

Meanwhile, Guyanese are looking forward to a good debate in Parliament on the budget presentation which will commence shortly.