Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Roysdale Forde says that the allocations made under Budget 2021will be scrutinised by the submission of questions in respect of all the agencies purportedly approved in the absence of the Opposition.
His comment comes weeks after the $350B budget was passed without the main Parliamentary Oppostion after its Members of Parliament (MPs) opted to vacate the House following an allegation that one of their colleagues was assaulted by a sitting Minister.
After the allegation was made, Opposition MPs sought to have the accused, the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy removed from the House. The speaker, Manzoor Nadir, advised that the removal of an MP from the House requires the tabling of a motion. Ironically, the Speaker suspended at least three MPs who were requesting McCoy’s removal. Their suspension was made on the grounds of them being allegedly disruptive.
Following the suspension of the Opposition MPs, including the Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, the other Coalition MPs left the House amid the consideration of the estimates of expenditure. With the main Parliamentary Oppostion absent, the Speaker activated the Standing Order which allowed the House to scrutinise each ministry and agency as a whole, rather than zeroing in on individual programmes. The budget was passed on that same day, March 4.
