BUDGET BLUES

Formal exchanges of letters between the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and the Shadow Minister of Finance, Mr. Carl Greenidge, seeking to fix a date for a meeting to discuss the proposed Budget, and the inevitable name calling when the exercise proved unsuccessful, ought to have alerted everyone that no serious discourse will take […]

THE SPEAKER’S DECISION CANNOT BE REVERSED.

The view of the Opposition that a Member of the National Assembly can be prevented from speaking is nothing but weird. This battle was fought in England hundreds of years ago and was settled in 1689. Guyana must be the first country which inherited the British Parliamentary system in which this issue had to be […]

REPAIRING GUYANA’S BROKEN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

The debate about the most suitable form of government for Guyana has been ongoing since the 1970s and continues with vigour today. Ravi Dev wrote on the issue recently in the Kaieteur News and Henry Jeffrey made suggestions earlier this week in SN. After the 1973 elections, at which the PNC seized a two-third majority, […]

ELECTORAL REFORM.

Both the PPP and the PNCR supported the proposals for electoral reform which were recommended by the Constitution Reform Commission (“CRC”) in 2000. The CRC had recommended the retention of the proportional representation system but urged that the “electoral system should include an element of geographical representation.” While the CRC did not make any recommendations […]

THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT COMMISSION

The Public Procurement Commission(“Commission”) was recommended by the Constitution Reform Commission (“CRC”) in 2000 as a constitutional commission. Its objective was to reduce or prevent corruption in procurement if the growing allegations were to be believed. The charges of general, widespread corruption in other areas had not yet become prominent. The CRC felt that it […]