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Budget 2012 an incomparable test of Parliamentary Configuration
… Ashni Singh challenges MPs to put Guyana first
As Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh wrapped up his budget presentation
Guyana’s Parliamentarians
on Friday last, he charged, “We have before us an incomparable chance to put this configuration to the test.”
He was at the time referring to the current make-up of the Parliamentary Structure, where the ruling party has a 32-seat bloc as against a combined 33-seat bloc for the combined opposition.
“Much has been said about the opportunities presented by the current Parliamentary configuration and the promise it holds…Much has also been said about the perils and challenges that emerge from this configuration,” reminded Dr Singh.
The Finance Minister Dr Singh, said that “it is my fervent hope that the debate on this budget will see all of my colleagues in this Honourable House putting Guyana first, recommitting to the better Guyana of tomorrow, to which we all aspire, and voting in favour of Budget 2012.”
Dr Singh’s presentation reminded that the political configuration that emerged from the 2011 elections, whereby the Party in Government does not hold a clear legislative majority, “is a domestic novelty even if similar situations have been experienced by other democracies the world over.”
According to Dr Singh Members of Parliament will meet to debate the National Budget but, “we cannot be unmindful of the context in which small economies such as ours confront the challenges of development.”
He sought to impress on the MPs that “today’s external environment is characterised by a virtually limitless interconnectedness that exacerbates exposure and vulnerabilities as much as it creates opportunities…The resulting uncertainty has manifested itself in considerable economic trauma for many small economies, including some in our Region.”
He said, too, that it is to the collective credit as a country that “we have traversed these perilous times and emerged thus far an even stronger economy.”
Dr Singh reminded that the growth that the country has achieved in recent years bears testimony to the soundness and responsibility of the administration’s policies.
“It also bears testimony to the response by our private sector which has been positive and sustained…we are literally at the most exciting juncture in our country’s economy history, poised for rapid takeoff.”
The Minister urged that as long as the large scale investment in such sectors as information technology, mineral extraction, and agriculture materialise, the implications for growth and job creation, and income and wealth generation will be vast.
He said that the beneficiaries will ultimately be the people of Guyana “whom we in this Honourable House serve.”
Dr Singh reminded that it is against the external factors and its contagion effect that the budget has been crafted.
“Ours is therefore the responsibility to ensure that these opportunities are mobilised as quickly as possible, that we take the actions necessary to keep Guyana on the path to accelerated economic growth and social development, and that we avoid any actions that could possibly jeopardise this being realised…No less is required of us, as responsible representatives of the Guyanese people.”
He said that the arrangement beckons Guyana into a new political epoch and heralds an opportunity for the nurturing of a new political culture.
“The prevailing dispensation will test and hopefully prove our resolve as a people, and within this House our respective will to serve as responsible representatives of a deserving People, to work together in service to the cause of national development.”
The Finance Minister also reminded, “lest we be misunderstood to be under an illusion of some sort, let there be no doubt that as much as the current dispensation provides important opportunities so is it fraught with formidable challenges.”
He said that in the quest for lasting solutions the debates will have to be dominated not by partisan agendas but by rational and meritocratic considerations, driven less by impulsive instinct and more by careful and deliberate judgement.
He cautioned the politicians in the house to resist the political lure of making choices that might have short term appeal but that compromise long term imperatives.
“Most of all, the current dispensation will require us to eschew political opportunism and grandstanding, and work together to make good and sound decisions that can withstand the test of time.”
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