KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Parliament has given the green light to the EC$1.4 billion (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) national budget presented by Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves during a closing session boycotted by the opposition.
The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) legislators did not give a reason for their absence on Thursday after attending the first three days of the debate during which all of its members spoke on the fiscal package.
However, some political observers speculated that their boycott might have responded to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves’ absence during Opposition Leader Godwin Friday’s four-hour response to the fiscal package.
Gonsalves used all his allotted four hours on Thursday before his son. The Finance Minister concluded the debate in about 90 minutes.
In winding up the session, Gonsalves described the debate as equivalent to “arguing against jello” as he accused the opposition of having no fixed position on the policy issues covered by the budget.
“I also initially intended to thank the opposition members because the debate was relatively free of hatred.
“Even though there were disagreements, there was reasonable good humor and so on while we were carrying on, but I see they couldn’t maintain for an entire four days. And their true colors are once again on display,” Gonsalves said.
He said that when the opposition boycotted previous sessions of the National Assembly, it always gave a reason. “But today, they’re not here. And I’m not exactly sure why….”
The Finance Minister expressed gratitude to the prime minister for his “magisterial” presentation, in which he addressed “the majority of the issues that arose during the debate, and therefore it’s much less need for me to rehash, retrod that ground.”
He said one of the difficulties that he has had in defining the current opposition’s philosophy.
“Under the days of [former prime minister) Sir James [Mitchell] of blessed memory, there was a definable core set of principles. You didn’t have to agree with them — not talking about whether you agree with them,” Gonsalves said.
“He was a man who was in favor of deregulation. He was a man who believed in trickle-down economics. And that’s not a knock; that was the Reagan era sort of philosophy.”
The Finance Minister said the former prime minister believed in integration and would defend those things.
“But he had a defined set of ideas. And you could say, ‘I could see Mitchell saying that or not. Mitchell would support that. Mitchell wouldn’t support that,” Gonsalves said, noting that the former opposition leader, Arnhim Eustace, was “a deficit hawk.
“He was in favor of the small government. And because he was a deficit hawk in favor of the small government, he advocated austerity. And you could agree with him or not. I’m not talking about whether or not his philosophy or his ideas were good or bad. I’m just saying you knew where you stood.”
He said the government could predict Eustace’s responses “based on his beliefs and his idea about what the government should be and its role in the country.
“I can’t pin down what the Honourable Leader of the Opposition stands for,” Gonsalves said of the current Opposition Leader.
“I can’t pin down what his idea is, what his animating philosophy is… There is a kind of duality — you talk out of both sides of your mouth, and you stick your finger up to see which way the wind is blowing. And you go there. And if the wind blows the other way, you go back the other way.
“And because of it, it’s difficult to have these debates because you listen to the opposition, and everybody’s getting up saying something different,” Gonsalves said.
Some opposition lawmakers said, “‘the debt is too high, we’re spending too much money, but we need more things done. We need more revenue, but you should cut the VAT.
“‘Having a salary increase is irrational at this point, said the Honourable Member for Central Kingstown, but the salary increase is not high enough, says somebody else? I’m just framing it in that way to say you’re arguing against jello. Nobody has a position; everybody is shifting and wobbling.”
Gonsalves said he is “a people-centered government. It is going to fight to lift the condition of people in this country.
“It is going to lift poverty, it is in favor of education, and it will invest in infrastructure to help develop this country. It is a social democratic movement. And it is deeply rooted in the people and their aspirations. That’s what we are. What are they? It depends on when you ask them; depends on who posts what on Facebook; depends on who calls into NICE Radio.”
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