PNC/APNU/AFC’s sordid, disgraceful legacy will keep them in opposition for at least a generation – Dr Singh

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh concluded the week-long budget 2025 debates on Thursday with a fiery two-hour address, eviscerating the arguments put forward by the opposition parliamentarians.

Following Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton’s hour-long oration, many of the opposition members stalked out of the National Assembly as Dr Singh approached the podium.

Beginning his presentation, Dr Singh said this refusal to listen to the government’s side of the House demonstrates their very approach to leadership and governance.

He criticised their utterances about the importance inclusion and consultation, when they have so clearly proved that they cannot be bothered to abide by these very principles.

“We sat here and listened to you! You don’t even have the manners to sit here and listen to us. If you can’t respect the small rules, then small wonder that you are incapable of respecting the bigger things that matter,” he chided.

It is this very dismal approach, the senior minister opined, that will ensure that these parties remain condemned to the opposition benches for at least another generation.

Further proof, he underscored, is evident in their history of destruction, decimation and bringing hardships to the Guyanese people.

He cited newspaper articles from the late 1980s during the People’s National Congress (PNC)’s tenure in office, which recorded a period of civil unrest, heavy taxation and the resulting onerous struggles of the ordinary man.

“This is what surrounded PNC budget speeches, and this is where we were headed had they been allowed to perpetrate the heist that they attempted. They cannot run from it. This is their legacy and this is their track record,” he declared.  

Dr Singh also drew attention to the PNC’s banning of certain food items during their tenure in office in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dr Singh told the House that there is still a generation of Guyanese alive today who remember having to bury food cans after consuming their contents.

“A generation is alive today for whom wheaten flour was as illegal as cocaine. If caught with it, you were thrown into jail and your vehicle was seized,” he reminded.

“They have not a morsel of regret for the thousands of people who were criminalised because they ate potatoes, or split peas, or dhal. And Mr Norton comes to tell this House that they are proud of the fact that they criminalised thousands of people…and these people want to present themselves as electable?” Dr Singh questioned.

In his critique of the infrastructure budgetary allocation and the overall performance of the sector, the Opposition Leader also contended that his administration would bridge the Essequibo River at multiple points. Dr Singh marvelled at the absurdity of this commitment.

“The only thing left for him to announce is a road to the moon,” the minister quipped.

He said that the opposition is so far removed from the realities of the people of Guyana, and this renders them incapable of effectively leading the country.

According to Dr Singh, the reality is that the APNU/AFC/PNC suffer several fundamental problems, including an irreparable credibility deficit.

“The problem is that they don’t even seem to want to try to repair it. They come here year after year and repeat the same malarkey. After spending 23 years in opposition and finally having an opportunity in government, the APNU/AFC wasted no time showing the people of Guyana why they were unworthy of being in government,” Dr Singh lamented.

The senior minister further reminded of two of the most contentious issues hampering the credibility of the opposition: a sitting government official in the previous coalition government awarding contracts under her ministry to a company owned by her, and the then government’s vehement denial of the existence of a signing bonus from ExxonMobil, only for paperwork concerning the receipt of this very signing bonus to be revealed to the public later on.

“And imagine, they have the audacity and temerity to come here and speak about [lies],”

He reiterated that their refusal to acknowledge their mistakes and self-correct has condemned them to many more lifetimes watching from the opposition benches as the PPP/C government steers Guyana to prosperity.

Now that the debates have concluded, the National Assembly will dissolve itself into the Committee of Supply to consider the estimates proposed under the respective ministries and agencies. Once passed in the National Assembly, the budget will see massive funds being injected into the Guyanese economy, bolstering key sectors like infrastructure, health and education.

Budget 2025 is also anchored by $90 billion in relief measures aimed at reducing the cost of living and increasing disposable income for thousands of Guyanese.