Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement, Amanza Walton-Desir, has indicated that she plans to stay away from next Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly for the National Budget presentation if elections are not held for a Leader of the Opposition.

In a statement, Walton-Desir said her party, the Forward Guyana Movement, will not sit in the National Assembly to listen to the budget speech, while the government continues to facilitate the flouting of the Constitution by supporting the non- election of an Opposition Leader. She said participation in the process will lend support to a false narrative that it is business as usual.

“Even if the government can go ahead and read the Budget, they have no moral or constitutional justification to treat it as normal business when Parliament is structurally incomplete by the PPP Government’s own deliberate inaction. The PPP is manufacturing normalcy whilst refusing to complete the constitutional architecture and then using their majority numbers to bulldoze legitimacy,” Walton Desir said in a statement.

The Opposition raised concerns over budgetary allocations for the Leader of the Opposition’s Office.

She explained that the Office of the Leader of the Opposition is funded by the State and receives a subvention from Parliament. As a result, she questioned who has been engaged to determine the allocation for that office, in light of the fact that no meeting has been called to elect the office holders

“This has nothing to do with anybody’s private money, means, or personality. This is about whether Guyana will have a functioning democracy or whether Irfaan Ali and his government will simply do whatever they want because they have the numbers. This is not only disrespect to the Constitution, but it is also disrespect to the people of Guyana. This government has shown such disregard for us as Guyanese, and we must not accept that as normal,” Walton- Desir noted.

MP Walton-Desir said her party will continue to reject government’s intention to proceed as if things are normal while flouting the constitution.

She said before the Minister of Finance moves to present a single budget figure, the Speaker must call the meeting for the non-governmental Members of Parliament to elect the Leader of the opposition.

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