Party members able to give better response to Budget presentation – NDP

The New Democratic Party’s (NDP) decision not to debate the 2016 Budget in Parliament has allowed the party’s members to be able to make a better response, as they are, for the first time, able to properly analyze the Budget before replying.{{more}}

Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace, speaking on Nice Radio yesterday morning, said that in the past, Prime Ministers would present the Budget for about four hours and within 12 hours of receiving the Budget, the Opposition Leader would have to respond.

“What would happen is that you have to reply by the next morning and in some countries, you have up to a week to reply,” explained Eustace, who said that the limited time frame within which a response has to be made does not allow for proper analysis, as a response is written sometimes on assumptions and without proper perusal.

He noted also that shadow ministers, because of the way that the system is set up, cannot properly reply, as they have no idea what the minister is going to talk about.

“This has happened over and over and now we did it different is a big issue. We don’t normally know what the minister is going to say,” said Eustace, stressing that the difference with the Budget presentation this time is that the Opposition parliamentarians refused to enter the debate in the House of Assembly, because the NDP does not recognize the legality of the Government.

The NDP began their own Budget presentation yesterday, Monday, February 28, at Frenches House in Kingstown, beginning from around 4.45 p.m.

Eustace, who described their Budget presentation as an “important exercise”, noted that the NDP’s presentations, which continue today, Tuesday, March 1, at 4.30 p.m., are a response to the 2016 Budget, which was presented by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves last week. The NDP’s alternative Budget presentation speaks of the party’s own ideas, while assessing what has been proposed by the Government.

The NDP’s session is being chaired by former speaker of the House of Assembly Monty Maule.

Yesterday’s session heard presentations by Eustace, parliamentary representative for the Northern Grenadines Godwin Friday, parliamentary representative for North Leeward Roland Matthews and senator Julian Ferdinand.

The other parliamentarians will make their contributions this evening.

“We have grave misgivings about the proposal (Government Budget). We don’t see how they are going to work and we will say why we don’t think they will work and we are very clear on the matters and we are ensuring that all of our people, the seven elected members and the two senators, all have an opportunity to have their say in these sessions,” said Eustace, who added that the session will last for 205 minutes today, as it did yesterday.

“We will give the public our understanding of the Budget, what it can do, what it will not do and our own ideas,” said Eustace, who added that the time of the event is ideal, as it will give persons the opportunity to listen, as it is not being done during working hours.

The event is being broadcast live by Nice Radio.

“We don’t feel we should be going into Parliament at this stage. We went in because we feel there is a need to keep our seats. If we stayed out and never go in, we would have lost our seats automatically and you don’t expect us to do that.”

Eustace stressed that his party is being criticized for not going to Parliament, but they have taken a stance.

“We are not going to Parliament because we don’t recognize the Government. We went in once, because if we don’t go in for a certain number of meetings, then you can lose your seat, so we wanted to preserve that,” said Eustace, adding that the NDP is aware that the Government has drafted a bill to change the rules, “and we will respond when we are ready.”

“I’m hearing people speaking in derogatory terms of us staying out and they have a right to do so and we have a right also about our staying out, subject to what the rules are. The Government has already drafted legislation to make sure we are not paid, but we have a principle that we are fighting for and we have to utilize our time in the best way we see in the circumstances that we now face.

“We believe we have an obligation to respond to the Budget in the circumstances and given the stance we have taken, we cannot respond to the Budget in the Parliament….”

He added, “we are taking the Budget very seriously as we ought to and the only difference is, we are not delivering it in the place where we always deliver it in the past and I don’t see that lessening the impact, because in many instances, a lot of the Budget is not being heard, as it is done during working hours, so we are trying the best we can so that many people can hear our response and some of our own ideas.”