Saying the emergency budget falls short of several key objectives, Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon yesterday announced that the APNU+AFC cannot offer its support for the passage of the estimates.
“It lacks vision. It falls short of… enhancing social cohesion, guaranteeing the peace and security of our people and [lacks] a practical methodological approach to dealing with COVID-19,” Harmon told the National Assembly during his contribution to the budget debate yesterday.
Harmon said that unless government was willing to review allocations in the three areas, he and the main opposition could not support the budget.
For much of his presentation, Harmon echoed points presented by other opposition members, including Raphael Trotman and Catherine Hughes.
He claimed that the former APNU+AFC government through the National COVID-19 Task Force was close to “flattening the curve” of infection by using a management method grounded in “sound science” and implemented through a comprehensive plan which included every ministry and several state agencies.
Every ministry and administrative region had to develop a plan of action and report weekly on their progress, Harmon said. He reminded that he had served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Task Force and accused the current government of giving lip service to COVID-19 management since it did not include a economic recovery plan in the budget.
He stressed that a blanket allocation of $150 million for frontline workers and a $25,000 cash grant per household was “lazy” since it failed to identify and address the specific needs of the vulnerable.
“Management of COVID-19 has spiraled out of control with a skyrocketing number of new infections and deaths,” he lamented.
Speaking on the issue of social cohesion, Harmon accused the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of removing qualified individuals from public office because of their perceived support for a political party and not doing enough to address recent racial tensions in the country.
Surprisingly, Harmon whose government failed to address constitutional reform during its tenure, called for the issue to be given “priority”.
As the government benches demanded to know why the coalition didn’t make constitutional reform a priority, Harmon offered a partisan bill that seeks to amend certain aspects of Guyana’s electoral laws.
These amendments, he noted, would take into consideration the “findings” of the various courts which heard the series of cases filed in relation to the March 2 polls.
“We can’t go back to an election with these laws and the bloated list. It is a travesty,” Harmon declared, while stating that if the government is not prepared to work with the coalition, it will approach civil society for consultation and bring a motion to the House.
The Opposition Leader also noted that his party intends to bring as a white paper the “Decade for Development” policy developed by the APNU+AFC.
