Latest update May 6th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 14, 2011 Editorial
With the unique (for Guyana) configuration of political forces delivered by the last elections, the budget is shaping up as the key item on the political agenda that will determine our near term future. There is, it might be said, the threshold issue of selecting the Speaker of the National Assembly. But in our estimation, the fact that this institution is circumscribed by strict rules of order and tradition, offers enough prospects of a rapprochement of competing interests.
The budget is a horse of a different colour. In liberal democracies, such as what ours approximates, where there are no “five-year plans” for the government to spell out its overarching vision for developing the country, the budget is the next best thing. What we have in place, however, is an executive that is technically responsible for outlining the policies to give life to such a vision but must face scrutiny for its implementation to a parliament that controls the purse but is controlled by its opponents.
But while this is unique for us, it is practically the norm for the US where the Congress (or either the Senate or the House) is often in control of the party in opposition to the sitting president. Even when this might not be the case, with a very amorphous party system, the leaders of the House or Senate may have quite different priorities from a President from their own “party”. It might therefore be of some benefit for our leaders to examine how the Americans have been able to govern with some degree of stability.
What has been of enormous benefit in the creation of that stability is the working of the political system to exclude extreme world views between the two major parties. The need for this ideological convergence around a centre has worked to exclude “third forces”, which have periodically erupted out of frustration with the status quo. These third forces, to distinguish themselves from the major contenders and to provide an alternative, almost inevitably denounce the latter and take extreme positions on issues. The system winnows them out.
In the US, the president and his staff craft their budget and announce in advance the major goals they want to accomplish in the coming year. There is consultation with Congressional forces before and obviously during the debate on the budget. The premise that makes the whole process work is that the test for spending must be for the “good” of the country. On the latter, it is expected that reasonable men may differ but they must be prepared to compromise to prevent logjams.
In Guyana, since 1992, our parties have also converged ideologically and therefore there should not be too much disagreement in the pursuit of the macro-economic goals that, let’s face it, were imposed by the IMF/World Bank. None of the three parties in parliament have questioned the legitimacy of those goals. It therefore makes much sense for the two parties that now control the Assembly to be consulted in the crafting of the Budget.
It is our hope, therefore, that after the Finance Minister has consulted with his colleagues responsible for other areas of governmental activity, which process he assured the nation is already well underway, he will announce to the nation the major initiatives the government hopes to achieve in the next fiscal year.
While Mr Granger of APNU has spoken of “consultation of APNU and AFC by the government”, his suggestion that there must be a tripartite committee established to draft the budget, goes beyond the US model. In general, it would appear that this suggestion would usurp the initiative of the Executive to present its vision to the country.
As was predicted of third parties, the AFC has complained that even this intrusion into the executive prerogative on the budget does not go far enough. It demands that, “Constitution reform, managing race relations, the constitution of the Rights Commissions, and the parliamentary agenda,” all be within the ambit of this tripartite committee. It would appear that contrary to its pre-election claims the AFC is demanding shared governance right up front.
GRA catch EXXON trying to hunch GUYANA over 11 BUS dollars in one shot!!!!
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