With the government now operating in “caretaker mode” due to the validation of the no-confidence motion by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), there are limitations to what the David Granger-led administration can do: while it cannot present or pass a national budget for 2020, it can still conduct preparations.
This is according to Finance Minister Winston Jordan who, at a Peoples’ National Congress Reform (PNCR)-hosted conference held today, outlined his ministry’s progress.
His statements build upon those shared by President Granger last week during an interview. According to President Granger, “There is nothing in the constitution that defines interim status. But in the jurisdictions which adhere to the Westminster system…Canada, Australia, and other countries we have consulted with the laws, an ‘interim government’ means that we do not, for example, pass a budget. We obviously have to keep government running; routine functions of government.”
Today, Minister Jordan told the Guyana Standard that the budget preparation is currently in its first phase. He noted that when the winner is announced for the impending general and regional elections, there will be some kind of preparation in place.
This, he said, will allow for the timely delivery of the budget rather than the nation being forced to wait while the newly-elected government crafts one. The preparations he said, will allow for that victor – whom he is convinced will be the coalition party – to “hit the ground running”.
He made reference to a similar arrangement that his government encountered after the former Donald Ramotar-led administration lost the May 2015 elections. Jordan said that when the coalition government was elected, they had to build on the preparations that had already begun by the former government.
