(Part II)
Last Monday, the National Assembly resolved itself into the Committee of Supply to consider the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2015. Standing Order 73.1 provides for a maximum of seven days for the consideration of the Estimates. However, the Prime Minister had proposed a motion for this period to be restricted to three days on the grounds that the Government had important matters to attend to and that the hours of the sitting of the Assembly would be extended as a compensatory measure.
The Opposition had vigorously opposed the proposal, citing long-standing practice as well as the fact that several Ministries have been reorganised. The latter would require more time for the Estimates to be properly scrutinized since there are two sets of estimates for such Ministries – one covering the period prior to their reorganisation and the other subsequent to their reorganisation. The motion was put to the vote and was passed.
Guyanese witnessed three full days of intense scrutiny of the Estimates which