The Patterson budget case must be dismissed as worthless – AG
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC
Kaieteur News – Describing the case filed by APNU + AFC Senator David Patterson as useless and demanding his dismissal, Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, have reiterate the Government’s plea of the doctrine of necessity as the basis for the progress of the 2020 crisis budget.
Nandlall had previously asked the court to deny Patterson’s request to find that the budget allocations for constitutional agencies by the National Assembly on September 01, 2020, had been made in violation of Section 80 B (2) of the Financial Management and Accountability Act (FMAA).
In its written submissions made to the Court, the AG argued, among other things, that the present case does not fall within the public interest exception as the successful passing of the Financial Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act has resulted in change. in the law.
As a result, he stated that the issue is unlikely to arise for future resolution and that the applicant has failed and / or neglected to demonstrate how a bare statement would be of any practical use to himself or the general public .
In the circumstances, the AG asked the Court to dismiss the application and adjudicated that the case was academic at this time, as there is no dispute over any legal issue.
In his written submissions, previously seen by this newspaper, Nandlall had argued to reject the orders and statements sought by Patterson “because it would serve no useful purpose.” The Attorney General argues that the doctrine of necessity justifies failure to circulate the budget proposals for 23 constitutional agencies.
Patterson, who is Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), formerly Minister of Public Infrastructure under the previous Government of APNU + AFC, complained that the proposals were not available to his party before September 01, 2020, and as such Such a breach of the Act was committed.
In its response however, the AG noted that the last time a budget was passed was in November 2018; almost more than two years before the March 2, 2020 election result was declared.
He noted that Guyana’s economy and productive sectors continued to plummet during this time and in the absence of a budget, and the effective functioning of the entire State became, almost impossible.
The AG explained that firing Guyana’s “dangerous condition” was the COVID-19 global pandemic, which brought increased demand for healthcare services and brought Guyana’s economy to a halt.
Further, Nandlall argues that given the country’s financial crisis, the current government was forced out of necessity to pass an emergency budget urgently, to enable the Government to restore stability in Guyana and offer Guyanese much-needed relief given the delay in getting the 12th Parliament convened and the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“A vital imperative arose to take immediate action to protect, preserve and safeguard the continued operation of the State. This necessity arose due to Guyana’s exceptional circumstances, which began from December, 2018 and such circumstances were neither provided for in the Constitution nor considered by the framers of the Constitution, ”the affidavit in support stated.
The document also highlighted the requirement for the Government to “pop up” and bring billions of dollars illegally spent from the Consolidated Fund without Parliamentary approval and, in addition to billions of dollars, from the Contingency, to the public accounting architecture. Financing without complying with legal requirements.