THE PPP IS PREPARING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF ELECTIONS

Apr 10, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The PPP has taken umbrage at the suggestion that it is preparing for the possibility of elections. It has revolted at the idea that the individual tax measures announced in the Budget are sweeteners intended to win support from the electorate should the opposition reject the Budget and thus force elections.
But from all indications, the PPP is readying itself for the possibility of elections. It is preparing for this possibility should the opposition refuse to assent to its Budget or decide to cut the Budget.
The Speaker will once again be a pivotal figure in what is the outcome of the Appropriations Bill. It will be up to him to decide whether when the National Assembly retires into the Committee of Supply and the time comes to approve the Appropriations Bill whether he will entertain cuts or whether he will be guided by the ruling of the Chief Justice to the effect that the Budget can only be rejected to approved but not reduced. In a separate ruling, the court had indicated that where the courts of law pronounce on constitutional questions, these are to be treated as binding.
The opposition parties feel powerless in the National Assembly without the power to cut, but they fail to recognize that the power to reject is far more powerful that the power to cut and instead of threatening to cut they should be threatening to reject, thus forcing the government to negotiate.
The risk that the opposition faces in so doing is two-fold. On the one hand the timelines are narrow and if the deadline for the Budget expires then they are effectively forcing elections. The opposition is not ready for elections. However the government is ready for an election and is just waiting for an excuse to dissolve parliament. This is the second risk that the opposition is courting.
All indications, in fact, point to a government that is in a state of readiness if not for elections, for the eventuality of elections. The PPP is covering its bases. It knows that if the Budget is not passed or if it has to go to the courts to ensure that any cuts are reversed, that it will also have to seriously consider how long it will tolerate, what for it, is an intolerable opposition. And the only way out of the entrapment of the opposition is through elections.
The PPP is already signaling that it is getting itself ready for elections. It has fanned out to its constituencies to repel any attempt by the opposition to reject or cut the Budget. Its propaganda machinery is working overtime in countering, and at times, spinning some of the presentations on the opposition.
In the event of the budget not being passed, the PPP would be well positioned to blame the opposition for this development and gain public sympathy.
But of greater note was the PPP’s line-up during the Budget debate. It used the Budget debate to give greater exposure to a number of its second–tier leaders. In fact, it enhanced the public profile of these leaders by handing them the major responsibility of leading the PPP’s charge on the Budget.
The person who led-off the Budget debate for the PPP was Irfaan Ali. This was totally unexpected and he was followed by other youthful and dynamic leaders such as Rev. Kwame Gilbert and Dr. Vidhya Persaud. They were all very impressive in their individual presentations and this was what the PPP was interested in displaying. It wanted to show the country that the PPP has depth that the party is not going to go under but will remain strong and vibrant because it has second–tier leaders who can ease into the positions of the top leadership when the time comes.
But the decision to have this sort of order in the Budget debate also helps to put the PPP in a state of readiness should elections have to be called. The second–tier leaders would have already been primed by these debates; would have already gained visibility and recognition, and would thus be ready for the campaign trail.
The opposition parties seem to have been stunned by all of this. So flat-footed were they caught that they seem to have forgotten to walk out of the National Assembly when the Minister of Home Affairs made his presentation on the Budget.

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THE PPP IS PREPARING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF ELECTIONS

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