OUTLINING budget measures in relation to the Ministry of Health, Finance Minister Colm Imbert last week Monday boldly declared of Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh: 'Madam Speaker, the Minister of Health will expand on these initiatives and developments during the budget debate.'
Mr Deyalsingh may well make an appearance in the Senate - where government ministers who are elected representatives are granted the privilege of addressing that unelected chamber - but what about the minister's duty to represent the people who elected him to represent the seat of St Joseph in the House of Representatives?
The premature end of the budget debate in the House on Saturday was an unsatisfactory outcome for all concerned. Parliamentary sittings have become relatively scarce due to covid19, and Government and Opposition MPs had a duty to ensure they were on the same page with regard to the logistics.
There is a reason why, once passed in the House, the Senate cannot amend or vote down the budget: it is a money bill, and one primarily concerned with the people at that. In this context, debate in the House is of an importance not matched in the other chamber. Indeed, Mr Deyalsingh was present in the House on Saturday and presumably ready to go.
It is an insult to the beleaguered people of Trinidad and Tobago, many of whom are anxiously seeking answers after Mr Imbert's presentation, for either side to spin this matter as a triumph over their opponent.
If it is a triumph, it is a triumph of foolishness over facts.
Of the Government MPs, the Prime Minister, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Energy Minister Stuart Young, Housing Minister Pennelope Beckles and the very leader of Government Business in the House, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, were among those who did not speak in the House.
While Dr Gadsby-Dolly on Monday appeared before the Standing Finance Committee, that forum was limited by its structure: it involves the narrow examination of line items without much room for real accountability. Indeed, Dr Gadsby-Dolly's failure to properly answer for specific matters raised by Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes demonstrated the inherent limitations.
But if the Government has wrongly placed all of its eggs in one Senate basket, the Opposition must explain the inept manner in which it effectively abandoned its duty.
The public saw, through broadcast footage, no real attempt on Saturday by any UNC MP to signal displeasure or protest the premature end of the debate. Indeed, moments earlier one MP even joked that the Minister of Finance should wrap up.
The joke, however, was on all of us.
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