APNU, AFC vote to defer estimates, put dent in Govt’s plan

The government yesterday lost its battle to have the consideration of the budget estimates begin yesterday.
Consideration of the estimates means that the National Assembly would have to go through the budget proposals line by line and either approve or disapprove. The Opposition used its majority vote to decide that consideration of the estimates should begin on Monday, allowing it time to decide what it will cut.
The opposition has signalled its intention to weed out projects it says will continue to fester corruption and excesses.
In a Business Sub-Committee of the Parliament, the opposition outnumbered the government and had its way.
Once the matter was taken back to the full House, the opposition again outnumbered the government thus stopping the government in its tracks.
The deciding vote belonged to Renita Williams from Moruca in Region One.
She was sworn in as a new Member of Parliament within the Opposition Coalition APNU following the resignation of Mr. Richard Allen.
Mr Allen’s absence from the House in the wee hours of today resulted in a protracted process as the Government sought to have its way and force the consideration.
In a bold move, Tuesday evening, the government called out Dr Vindhya Persaud from her father’s wake so that it could have a solid position to force the consideration of the estimates to begin from today. With 33 seats, the opposition has a one-seat majority in the House. However with Allen ill, that majority had disappeared.
Dr. Persaud in the House evened up the numbers for the government.
With even votes on both sides, as Parliamentary rules go, the motion was not carried and was returned to the Business Sub Committee.
Ms. Williams’ swearing in to replace Allen put the opposition at full strength in the House later in the afternoon and this pushed consideration of the estimates to Monday.
The intention of the government seemed clear – if consideration of the estimates began today, it would rob the opposition of its power to cut certain items. The opposition is required to give a 24-hour notice of its intention to cut spending.
The government was especially jittery about the estimates of the Home Affairs Ministry and the Office of the President, which were cut down in last year’s budget.
And so, the government’s plan, if it had its way, was to have those estimates for Home Affairs and the Office of the President, considered first and force it through to approval with the opposition being powerless to cut.
But that plan can no longer go through. The government is left to do as the opposition says – that’s to wait on Monday and hold its breath for the budget cuts.
The Finance Minister said that the opposition is standing in a very lonely place when it comes to their denial of support for the budget. He pointed to the private sector and other stakeholders welcoming the measures contained in the budget.
Dr Singh said that the government would be the last to say that everything is perfect in Guyana.
He said that every day the government wrestles with reality that there are things to fix.
The Finance Minister denounced the objections by the opposition as “unsubstantiated,” arguing that they were saying no just for the sake of saying no, disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing.
He expressed hope that there might still yet be time.
He said that whilst there was the opportunity for political rhetoric, the critical time is when the Speaker will put the vote for the passage of budget item by item.
The Finance Minister expressed the hope that the opposition would use the time between now and the consideration of the estimates to reflect and recognise that every single measure in the budget is good for Guyana.