IT IS A DIFFERENT BALL GAME IN TOWN

Feb 18, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Old people say that Lil Boy must know them place. They must not get manish even if they feel they are brighter than their elders.
Some lil boys gat big wuk and so they feel that they can talk down to their elders. But lil boy can get cut down to size.
This is exactly what happened last Thursday in the National Assembly when the opposition refused to rubberstamp the financial bills that were tabled by the government.
It was unfortunate that in the run- up to this most important sitting, that the Finance Minister sought to make comments about the credibility of the former Minister of Finance and now point man for APNU in the National Assembly, Carl Greendige.
Mr. Greendige is beyond criticism. Those old enough will know that Mr. Greendige’s tenure at the finance ministry was an unmitigated disaster for this country.
He was unfortunately the minister at a time when the economy was bankrupt and the government ineffective. But the public does not need to be reminded about that simply because the shadow finance minister raised some concerns about the financial management of the economy.
In life you have to respect your elders. And therefore there was no need for comments to be made about Mr. Greendige’s tenure as finance minister. That sort of backchat is reminiscent of an era that is no longer around and one of the principal architects of this attitude is no longer around. So no need to go back there.
Speaking of the credibility of APNU’s shadow minister was also not the wisest thing to do, not when supplementary provisions have to be passed and when the government does not have the majority in the National Assembly to pass them.
The same attitude that worked under the previous government cannot be applied under this new government. The circumstances are different and the combined opposition is now in a position to demand answers when in the past they would have had to accept whatever trickle of information was provided for them.
It is time the entire PPP government wake up to the realization that it is not business as usual in the National Assembly and therefore they have to stop the same old ways of doing things.
No one is asking the PPP not to have supplementary provisions. There is no government in the world that can accurately craft a budget from which there will be no variations, positive or negative. When you are dealing with variables such as the movement of oil prices, or unexpected events such as some emergency work, or a natural disaster, or something that you did not cater for, there will always be variations to what you would have budgeted. You cannot always get it right unless you are over-estimating and nobody wants to over-budget.
The opposition has their agenda and they will try to make life difficult for the government but they know also that the people will see them and therefore they will have to also act responsibly.
In the case of the government, they cannot continue to do as they did in the past when they used their majority to get their financial papers passed.
Then the opposition had to put their tail between their legs and accept sometime that was seen as half-baked answers.
It is a different ball game now. The opposition does not have to accept that anymore. They have the power now in the National Assembly and the finance minister had better wake up and smell the coffee because when he is brining financial bills to the National Assembly he has to come good.
He has to come with all the details, down to the revenue stamp on the receipts for payments made. Whatever the opposition wants to see, he has to show them because they are now in command of the parliament.
And while the opposition may have been somewhat unreasonable, the government could not have expected that the opposition would have simply rolled over and passed those financial papers.
No, the government has to sit down with the opposition and go through item for item with the plenipotentiaries.
The opposition would have to be foolish to simply pass all those financial papers without going through them with a fine-tooth comb. And while there may be some handballing, this is all part of the game.
But it is made worse for the government when unnecessary public outbursts are made about the credibility of someone who served as finance minister over twenty years ago.
Regardless of what happened then, respect has to be shown because the person concerned is there as a representative of the people and you cannot build any good relationship if you attack the credibility of the other side when there is no need to do so.
The government needs to therefore put itself in order. It needs to arrange a meeting with the plenipotentiaries of the opposition parties and patch- up the fall-out from the statements made.
Politicians understand that from time to time they will face some jabs and they do not always take it personal.
More importantly, the government needs to load up a canter truck with documentation giving the details of every line item in those financial papers and deliver them to APNU and Congress Place so that they can scrutinize them.
The time for huffing and puffing and expressing disappointment is over. The only disappointment that should be expressed is regrets that sufficient engagement with the opposition parties did not occur before these financial papers were tabled. This would have saved a great deal of time and indignation.

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