All those worried that the handling of the 2016 budget by Parliament would not take place anytime soon because of the latest developments can rest assured. The debate is set to resume on Thursday, it was decided after a consultation among
the fraction leaders (see related story).
The opposition already had indicated they would cooperate in forming a quorum this time, as the William Marlin Cabinet is short of a majority backing due to the detention of “Coalition of Eight” member Silvio Matser for alleged vote-buying. Whether the “Super Seven” also will support Finance Minister Richard Gibson’s “shotgun budget” is a whole other matter.
UP leader Theo Heyliger said they were willing to do so if several amendments reflecting their positions were made, although there was talk of forming a “national Government” as well. It’s not clear yet what kind of possible adjustments are involved, but if they affect the projected revenues and/or expenditures, that could present problems, especially in case of a negative impact on the bottom line.
The budget not only must be balanced, but also has to pass scrutiny of the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT, which already advised certain corrections that subsequently were made in the draft document. Any significant changes at this point would therefore increase the risk of the legislature adopting a budget only for it to be rejected afterwards, sending all involved right back to the drawing table.
The country has been without a ratified budget since 2014, so not having a new one would legally mean again using that of two years ago. The latter is obviously an unfavourable scenario.
