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Finance Minister Colm Imbert – Photo by Ayanna Kinsale
FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert has declared that the Government’s “excellent” budget has baffled the Opposition UNC and left it writhing in “so much pain and gastrointestinal distress.”
Imbert fired these political shots at the UNC as he concluded the budget debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
He said in his 32 years as a parliamentarian, the October 6 budget response by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the subsequent responses of the other 18 UNC MPs were the most abysmal he had ever seen and heard.
Government MPs thumped their desks as Imbert declared, “It was an excellent budget. They can’t handle it.”
He opined that the UNC was upset there is no general election this year and he did not present an election budget on October 2.
Imbert reminded the UNC that the next general election is constitutionally due in 2025.
“It have a next budget to come. That will be an election budget that will blow your mind.”
Imbert was not surprised the Opposition had nothing to say in the debate because, he said, the budget had something for everyone.
He slammed the UNC and other commentators for misleading the population about facts, saying the PNM increased the minimum wage six times and the UNC only once.
The House’s Standing Finance Committee will begin deliberating on the budget from 10 am on Friday. Under the Standing Orders, the committee has five days to complete this.
This means that the House will pass the budget by October 19, should the committee sit on successive days.
The Senate will subsequently sit to debate the already-passed budget. Under its standing orders, the Senate cannot vote on money bills, such as the budget.
