As Opposition Member of Parliament Dr Asha Kissoon took the floor to contribute to the 2025 budget debate on Thursday, members of the APNU+AFC left the House in protest of her continued occupation of the shared seat in Parliament.
“I must say that the Opposition has really made me feel welcome because this House is witnessing a case of pot telling the kettle that its bottom is black. These are the same colleagues who squatted in Government for five months after the No-Confidence motion was passed so they are free to do what they want to do,” Dr Kissoon remarked.
There is controversy involving the presence of Dr Kissoon in the National Assembly in a seat she has been occupying beyond the six-month term allotted to her party under a Joinder Agreement.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the Joinder List, Dr Kissoon’s party, The New Movement (TNM), was entitled to occupy the Opposition seat in the National Assembly for 91 days. That timeline ended since November 2023, but Dr Kissoon continues to occupy the parliamentary seat in a move that has sparked criticisms from some quarters, including A New and United Party (ANUG), whose turn it is to serve in the House based on the Joinder Agreement.
On March 2, 2020, TNM, ANUG, and the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) had crafted the MoU in which it was agreed that they would merge the votes earned by them, if those were sufficient to earn them a seat in Parliament, and they would share occupation of that seat in Parliament on a rotational basis that is proportionate to the votes each had earned.
At those elections, the number of votes secured by the three joinder parties were: 2657 by LJP – the most votes secured by a joinder party; 2313 by ANUG, and 244 by TNM. Based on the Joinder Agreement, each party was entitled to occupy the shared seat for a specific period.
The stipulated duration of the terms for each party was: two years, six months and 20 days for the LJP; two years five months for ANUG, and 91 days for TNM.
The three parties had previously committed to acting as a broker between the Government and the main Opposition.
Meanwhile, during her presentation, Dr Kissoon became the second Opposition politician to support the 2025 budget.
Dr Kissoon, who is also deputy speaker, commended several provisions of the $ 1.382 trillion budget even as she provided some recommendations of her own.
“The culture of vindictive politics must come to an end. A national budget is meant to unite us, not divide us,” she said as she commenced her contribution to the ongoing budget debate.
“Is it so unheard of that a member of Opposition can agree with Government on something in the budget? Are there no longer free thinkers who exists in the opposition?” Dr. Kissoon questioned.
She pointed to investments in housing, agriculture, healthcare and other sectors which she noted are beneficial to the people of Guyana and must be supported. As a medical doctor, the opposition member pointed out that the advances in the healthcare sector, the provision of healthcare vouchers and the investments in advanced technologies will all play a pivotal role in people’s lives.
For the health sector, she recommended systems be put in place to provide funding for people who are forced to conduct neurological and other surgeries privately. “I’m sure everyone here has noticed that at some point of another, people on social media who seek medical funding for certain surgeries, neurological surgeries in particular, that are not offered in the public health system. I’m making a request that we have budgetary funds allocated to them while systems are put in place so we can have these surgeries done in the public system,” she said.
Dr. Kissoon commended projects slated for the Housing and Water sector including introduction of new housing schemes and water treatment plants. In this sector she proposed the introduction of interest free loans for young home owners and reducing the age for applications from 21 to 18 years old.
Referring to comments about “friends, families and favourites,” she urged that the Ppposition must stop victimising people who are hardworking in their sectors.
She further urged the Ministry of Public Works to ensure contractors are completing quality work.
The Opposition Member lauded other projects including the Governments Gas to Energy project and the school feeding programme among others.
She is the second Opposition Member to support the 2025 Budget following APNU Member Geeta Chandon-Edmond.
