Govt. halted in attempt to pass VAT amendment
Kaieteur News
January 21, 2007
Government's attempt to expedite the passage of a Bill to amend the current Value Added Tax (VAT) Act was thwarted by the Opposition at Friday's sitting of the National Assembly.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee moved a Motion seeking to suspend Standing Order 54, to allow for the passage of the Bill on the very day that it was read, but this was met with rigid opposition from People's National Congress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-1G) frontbencher Winston Murray.
Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jennifer Webster, yesterday tabled the Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2007, which seeks to repeal Section 98 of the existing Act.
The Bill seeks to amend the VAT Act of 2005 to provide the Minister to amend Schedules I and II by an order, subject to negative resolution of the National Assembly.
Rohee sought to amend Standing Order 54, which provides for an interval of not less than seven days between the first and second reading of a Bill.
However, Murray said that the government was breaching Parliamentary procedures and was also disregarding the fact that the Opposition needed to study the Bill in its entirety.
He argued that the substantive Speaker of the National Assembly, Hari Ramkarran, has taken a hardline approach to the 11:00hrs timeline on the day of a sitting by which the opposition must submit any Amendments or Motions and as such the government needed to rethink its position.
Murray stated that the government was seeking to “ram the Bill down the throat” of the National Assembly.
He appealed that in the best interest of transparency, Rohee should withdraw the Motion.
Alliance For Change (AFC) MP, Raphael Trotman, also questioned the move to have the Bill passed in a hurry.
He noted that although VAT was of public importance, the Motion flew in the face of the established Standing Orders.
Acting Speaker of the National Assembly, Clarissa Riehl, disallowed the Motion, stating that the government needed to take into account the Order Paper that it had prepared and presented to Parliament.
She said that neither in the original Order Paper, nor the Supplemental Order Paper, did the government indicate that it was proceeding to pass the VAT amendment at yesterday's sitting.
Minister Rohee expressed disappointment that the Motion was disallowed, since VAT required urgent attention.
President Bharrat Jagdeo last week indicated that the government had taken note of the various problems encountered with the implementation of the new tax regime and had announced that amendments will take care of some of the existing concerns.