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No-confidence Motion will be debated after Budget, not a moment before – PM
“We will have this motion discussed and defeated because it is not viable. It was bred out of desperation, frustration and opportunism.” This is what Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo said yesterday as he addressed, publicly, how the coalition government intends to handle the no-confidence motion filed against it by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) parliamentary opposition.
Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo
The motion was filed well over a week ago in the name of Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
Yesterday, Nagamootoo said that the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, communicated to him that the opposition was sent a letter that serves to inform that the motion would not be considered until after the National Budget of 2019 is read, debated, deliberated and passed in the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana.
On Monday, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan will read Budget 2019.
Nagamootoo said that he does not foresee the Budget being passed before December, 15. He said it can be very well later than that.
Nagamootoo continued, “We need to address why is it that the opposition feels that this motion should come up for discussion before all matters including the national budget. I expect the Guyanese people will see the budget as a matter of primary concern to them and their lives.
“We have to work towards a budget that is not only bigger but better than budgets before, with stronger social content.”
He said that as a result, there is no way that the government will allow the no-confidence motion to be debated before budget is passed.
“We are not running; we are prepared but we believe there are issues that take precedence,” said Nagamootoo.
He said that the opposition however, feels, “wrongly”, that the recently concluded Local Government Elections (LGE) has passed judgment on the government. He said that it is as if the opposition is using the result of the LGE as a referendum.
He said that nevertheless, the motion is still a “no go” simply because it cannot succeed. He said that the opposition knows very well that the motion cannot succeed but is trying “psychologically, harass the Guyanese people and frustrate the National Assembly.”
Further, the Prime Minister said that even the fact that the opposition is holding on to the possibility of having a Government Member abstain from voting is absurd. He said that in such an eventuality, the vote would be tied and the motion would be defeated.
“The motion has no reasonable prospect for success in the House,” said Nagamootoo.
He also said that there is an old “unwritten law which states, he who wants justice must come with clean hands.”
Nagamootoo then recalled the no-confidence motion he took against the Donald Ramotar-led government in 2014. He reminded that Ramotar prorogued Parliament just so that that motion would not be debated.
Nagamootoo further said that the coalition government has been a stable one. He said that it was able to “restore peace and public order in Guyana.”
The Prime Minister said that Guyana is now standing on the cusp of an oil and gas economy.
He continued, “We will become rich and wealthy so the opposition is salivating in the dark benches trying to draw a picture of gloom and doom.
Nagamootoo also accused the opposition of trying to suck the Christmas out of Guyanese. In fact, he referred to the opposition as the Grinch.
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