A FAIR TRADE

Mar 30, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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If you are paid by the Central Government, you should be very concerned about tomorrow’s National Budget.
You should be wary especially about how you spend this month’s paycheck because depending on how things go in the National Assembly in the next two weeks, it could well be your last paycheck for some time.
The National Budget is going to be read today in the National Assembly. In the past, this was a far more eagerly anticipated event than what happened in the two weeks that followed the reading. Since the government traditionally enjoyed a majority in the parliament, they managed to always push through their Budget estimates with only minimal amendments.
It is a different situation this time around. The government no longer commands a majority in the parliament and therefore there is no guarantee that it will secure passage for its Budget.
If there is no passage of the Budget, then public spending, including wages for workers will have to cease. That could mean that government workers may not be able to receive their salaries.
In such a scenario, the President would have no other option but to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. And since it requires some preparation, it will take some months. In the meantime, no one can be certain as to how workers will be paid.
The government therefore has to be anxious about whether parliament will approve a Budget for this year. The government had refused to allow the opposition to be part of the preparation of the Budget. It was within its right to do so since the preparation of the Budget is an executive preserve.
But it also made a mess of the process of consultations to which it had agreed. This failure to consult meaningfully with the opposition parties was in the main due to the ongoing dispute between the parties in the Assembly over representation on committees, a matter that is now engaging the courts.
No self- respecting government is going to allow the opposition to do as it pleases in the parliament, using its one- seat majority, and still have business as usual when it comes to consultations on the Budget. Meaningful consultations became a victim of the ongoing tussles in the National Assembly.
However in the absence of meaningful consultations, it is unreasonable to ask the opposition to simply rubber stamp the Budget.
The opposition is no doubt aware of the problems that can arise and the consequence of it vetoing the Budget. It knows that failure to approve a Budget could result in thousands of state employees not being paid for some time.
Easter is next week and they know that most of the March salary of workers will go towards helping the workers enjoy the things associated with this popular weekend in Guyana. And so they know that come April month- end, many workers are going to be cash-strapped if the Budget is not passed and funds allocated for payment of workers.
They also must be aware that the failure to pass a Budget will force new elections. But the opposition, despite claiming that they are ready for elections, may not be that keen to go back to the polls under such circumstances.
The government on the other hand is not making things any easier for itself by the attitude of some of its top officials. Many of these officials continue to behave as if they are trying to force the opposition to do something that would force an election.
It is the same old attitude that turned voters away from the ruling party and it is being practiced by the usual antagonists within the government.
In the end, it is hoped that good sense prevails. By refusing to consult meaningfully with the opposition, the government will be forced into protracted behind- the- scenes negotiations with the opposition parties if they wish a Budget to be approved.
There will have to be give-and-take and perhaps the government will have to sacrifice some of those big projects such as the Marriot-branded hotel if they hope to have the Budget passed. While this hotel will not be financed from the Consolidated Fund, it can become the subject to the negotiations that will most likely take place in order for the government to secure passage of its Budget.
The opposition so far has not said anything about the hydroelectric project. After the confidential briefing that was held between the government and the opposition parties, the opposition has been very silent on this matter, even though there have been expressed concerns in the media about the anticipated effect of this project on electricity tariffs.
One option is for the opposition to strike a deal in which it agrees to approve the Budget in return for the government doing two things: first, not being an equity partner in the proposed new hotel; and secondly, ensuring that electricity tariffs will be slashed between 40-60% under the hydropower project deal.
This sounds like a fair trade and a firm enough basis on which to engage in political horse-trading.

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