President Granger to address reopening of Parliament; Government to push important legislative agenda

President David Granger will on Thursday, October 13, 2016, address the Parliament of Guyana, when the session opens after being in recess for two months.

According to a press release from the Ministry of the Presidency, the Head of State said Government will be pushing a critically important legislative agenda, which addresses good governance and national development. The President’s address comes ahead of the reading of the 2017 National Budget.

“It… is a very good opportunity for us to let the nation know how we intend to govern the country during the financial year 2017 and so in broad outline, we are looking at the financial plan that is the Budget, which is going to be presented early December or late November. That will have the effect of actually starting in January 2017, so that people would know what the figures are…but we also want to lay out our legislative agenda and our broad policy for governance in terms of our social and poverty alleviation programmes and most important our green agenda,” the Head of State said, during an interview at State house on Friday.

Chief Whip for the Government and Minister of Social Cohesion, Ms. Amna Ally, in an invited comment, said the legislative agenda has been set based on the importance Government places on strong governance, security and youth development.  She added that the ultimate goal is a better life for all Guyanese.

She noted that several of the Bills have been exposed to public consultation for the input of the Guyanese populace to ensure maximum results. One of the items at the top of the agenda for this session, the Chief Whip said, is the adoption of the National Youth Policy, which she said has been hanging for quite some time and it is, therefore, imperative that this be given the necessary attention.

“The young people play an important role in our society and we want to ensure that the National Youth Policy receives the attention it deserves. This is something that has been lagging since the previous Government and Parliament and so we would want to see that it is tabled in the National Assembly and every member has the opportunity to add their contributions,” Ms. Ally said.

Among the Bills Government is looking to give its attention to when Parliament reopens on Thursday are the Cybercrime Bill 2016 (currently at the Select Committee), the Tobacco Bill, the Whistle Blowers Bill and the Witness Protection Bill.