To vote or not to vote, that is Budget 2026’s question

Dear Editor,
The cultural reading of the famous National Budget and the traditional debate finished last Friday, allowing the 13th Guyana Parliament to reach its two-thirds completion mark and now awaiting the final third part for the customary consideration of the estimates of Guyana’s National Budget 2026 to commence before it is put to the House for the inevitable passage.
Enjoying a 36-majority seat, without any problem, the elated PPP/C Government foresees no challenge and anticipates no surprise in getting the trillion-dollar budget passed. As a practice, the Opposition (a combination this year) is ceremoniously expected to walk out before the vote is called for the ayes and nays! As clean as a whistle, there is no Charrandas-type furore in this third sitting to create any uproar or upset!
Like the West Indies win in their primary game in this year’s Male World Cup T20 Cricket Series, many young and talented Members of Parliament are drawing first blood. Getting into the Big League is no easy feat, and one has to be prepared to lock horns with the seasoned players. There are many budding flowers, like baby-faced 14-year-old Sooryavanshi, playing his record-breaking role in the U19 Cricket 2026 World Cup.
The conventional address of the adjective “Honourable” was fully exhausted and applied in all its merits and demerits to demarcate respect or dishonour in its real sense. Shakespeare utilised Mark Antony’s speech in “Julius Caesar” to display this irony or sincerity and praise or sarcasm. The statement, “Yet Brutus is an honourable man,” is phrased as a pause for effect, to influence an opposite appeal.
The Honourable Dr Hinds’s loyalty to the APNU (PNC) and his duty to the IDPADA-G befriended his cause to succumb to the concept of narrowing the catchy word “people” to refer to a prejudiced interpretation. In the same vein, the Honourable Dr Campbell drew a parallel when he revealed his true colour by reflecting in the mirror of intolerable discrimination.
One cannot help but pun with the play “Julius Caesar”. WPA joining hands with the PNC was long configured when Caesar remarked, “Et tu, Brute?” One of Dr Walter Rodney’s famous quotes sounds a warning: “…..[A]ll white people are enemies until proved otherwise, and this applies to Black intellectuals; all of us are enemies of the people until we prove otherwise.”
Brutus justifies staining his hands with Caesar’s blood by explaining, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I love Rome more.” As portrayed in the budget’s debate, the golden field of opportunity presents a propitious moment for the WIN Party to capitalise on a porous PNC “scattered” displacement, to take advantage and traverse on the backs of those mentored by a Burnham ideology.
On his maiden voyage, the Honourable Azruddin Mohamed trod uncharted waters when he swam with the sharks to wet his feet as the Leader of the Opposition (LOO). It will be remembered that the late Gordon Todd, a past President for the CCWU, was also taken for a PNC helicopter ride against his will to the middle of the ocean and asked if he wanted to swim with the sharks!
Without his playboy’s sunshades to reveal eyes mirroring a tale of error and terror, the Honourable MP ventured into a maze of explosive revelations which sent shock waves throughout Guyana. Guyanese overheard unspoken anecdotes, way above the head of a tsunami wave, leaving unfiltered imagination to take a walk in the park with their heart in their hand, wanting to know what more will be divulged!
The Honourable Gail Teixeira, a veteran of exemplified diplomacy, dignity and décor, displayed a doyen dominance to devote her time to commandeering the House to rapid attention as she coolly, calmly and calculatedly cajoled members with political, Parliamentary and personal coaxing. No wonder her presentation remained undisturbed, unquestionable and undefeated, especially when accompanied by the uncomfortable historical facts and accentuated with inconvenient truth!
While sentiments, sorrows and sadness do send shock waves of appeal to play on emotions to create commotions, it is well advised to look beyond the curve for any cloaked dagger. As the Honourable Prime Minister advised, when you come to the National Assembly as the cream of the crop and not as a backbencher, it is worthy to read widely, research wisely and remember willingly.
Budget 2026, undoubtedly, has room for each and every Guyanese, irrespective of race, religion, belief, caste, creed, sex, age, political affiliation, location, status, affluence or influence. It may not immediately and appropriately satisfy the needs, wants, desires, dreams, or wishes of a personal or collective choice, but the Government will be mandated to fulfil the promises with dignity, sincerity, and loyalty by truly putting people first in order to maintain a “One Guyana” and to sustain peace, progress, and prosperity for the country and Guyanese, holistically.
Guyanese should remain all for one and one for all, regardless if you vote or don’t vote for the passing of Budget 2026, in particular as we await the ICJ decision later this year over our Guyana/Venezuela border issue.
Yours sincerely,
Jai Lall