President Donald Ramotar’s reaction to the budget cuts was “reprehensible” in the light of his “hard and callous” response to the opposition’s arguments during two days of engagements with administration officials prior to the passage of the reduced budget, AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan said.
In an address to the nation on Friday night, the president assailed the opposition for slashing the 2012 budget and accused APNU of reneging on agreements reached with his administration. The president said that the $21 billion in budget cuts threaten many transformative projects started by the government and will delay the commencement of others. He said that while his administration demonstrated goodwill, APNU and the AFC conspired and “ended up retarding the development taking place in the country.”