Dear Editor,
It is indeed depressing for many of us Guyanese that, the Budget debate, which should be giving an equal opportunity to both the ruling Government and the Opposition to put forward their views on the allocations in the budget, has been used by those in the government to personally criticise most of those who spoke about what they thought were not beneficial of those allocations, which is indeed their basic function.
Glaring examples of this are the criticism of one representative’s work during his tenure as an employee at GuySuCo when he sought to make suggestions about its progress, and so many more that the debate has come down to mostly this.
It is also just as disheartening to observe the biased and unreasonable inputs by the Speaker who should be basically impartial and non-judgemental of all those in our Parliament, and all they declared in their contributions. This was most unfortunate in the case of the appointed Leader of the Opposition, whom he declared a fugitive when this leader was never tried and found guilty of any wrong-doing.
If the government is really earnest when they profess to represent all of us, then this modus operandi has to change to one of understanding and inclusion in our affairs.
I cannot help but recall the manner by which the creator of the PPP, Hon. Dr. Cheddi Jagan, was always so gentle and mindful of all with whom he dealt, an experience that I always felt in my own dealings with him.