“We don’t change our tune every time we speak, unlike the Leader of the Opposition”.
These were the words of Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh as he digressed to answer heckles from the opposition during his presentation of the 2024 Budget yesterday.
On one such occasion, as he made note of the significant rise in the number of visitors to Guyana last year, comments were made that the majority of them were Guyanese. To this, Singh noted that they are indeed Guyanese who are returning, having previously left the country during 2015 to 2020 when the Granger administration took over governance.
Opposition MPs further heckled Singh that he was one among those who left the country.
This sparked visible anger in the Finance Minister, as he belted out, “I did go, and I went on self-imposed political exile because of political prosecution by the APNU+AFC!” Singh had faced a charge of misconduct in public office in 2018. The charge was withdrawn in December 202 after the PPP/C took office.
Singh then moved on to lash out at MP and AFC member Sherod Duncan’s state of employment, noting: “I can’t help it if I’m employable anywhere in the world. I, sir, when my mother sent me to school, I went to school. You [Duncan] are not even employable in Chronicle!”
The Minister then alluded to the fact that Duncan was fired by Geeta Chandan, an APNU MP.
“Let the record reflect that Geeta Chandan fired him at the Chronicle… and [he] has the audacity to come here to heckle me?”
As the heckling continued, Singh proceeded to ask Duncan whether or not he had repaid the Chronicle’s monies.
When he got to the rehabilitation of the Linden/Soesdyke Highway ($10B has been allocated), pandemonium again broke out as the Finance Minister diverted to respond to a question posed by Leader of the Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton on whether or not the highway would be two lanes. In response to the comment made, Singh posited to Norton, “How many lanes were built by APNU+AFC for the people of Linden between 2015 and 2020? How many lanes did the APNU+AFC build, for 5 years, claiming to love the people of Linden? How many lanes of a bridge did they build by Wismar? How many lanes?”
To his own question, Singh responded that not even half a lane or a bicycle bridge was built by the previous administration. He also noted that the Leader of the Opposition claims to love the people of Linden but not even a bicycle bridge was constructed at Wismar.
Singh also lashed out by contending that the Leader of the Opposition didn’t have a real job during the five-year Granger administration.
“I don’t know how Granger made that judgement… but the party, Sir, did not build even a bicycle bridge,” he exclaimed.
Further, in response to another comment from the parliament that he (Singh) ran away (from Guyana), the Finance Minister again felt the need to defend himself by noting, “When one loses an election, one demits office gracefully and one moves on… that is what people do in a democracy. Look around the world. When you believe in democracy and you lose an election, you demit office gracefully and you move on to do something else in life. You don’t cling to government because you’re incapable of doing anything else.”
He added that some members of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), himself included, exited office gracefully in 2015 when his party lost to the APNU+AFC during the then General Elections.
As the back-and-forth continued, an agitated Singh was heard on the live responding to another comment made by Sherod Duncan: “And you tried to … to hold on to power, because you di hoping to get back yuh position at the Chronicle wuk. Like yuh di hoping Chandan woulda revoke yuh dismissal”. Additionally, Singh noted that when the PPP lost the elections in 2015, he demitted office and exited politics.
“And I was living my life quietly, earning a living, quietly as a private citizen. Mr. Speaker, you know who bring me back to Guyana? The APNU+AFC bring me back to Guyana. When they did that, Sir, and they imposed political prosecution against me. I vowed then that I will devote the rest of my life to keeping them from office. And so I will do,” he said.
The Finance Minister concluded by again lashing out at Duncan with, “Some of them don’t need me to keep them out of government, Geeta Chandan… and Joe Harmon put he out of government”.
