Last Friday, during the debate in Parliament on the Tax Information Exchange Agreement Bill (2016), the Minister of Finance bashed the Opposition. The Speaker suspended the sitting for one hour on the request of the Government to discuss the amendment to the bill without giving the Opposition the right of reply, therefore, I cannot fault the Opposition for not meeting with the Government.
After the suspension, Opposition member Ganga Singh made his contribution which was very clear as to the Opposition's concerns. After, when the Attorney General was making his contribution I got two main points:
1. The Government had already eliminated three offending clauses and they were inviting the Opposition to discuss the others.
2. The Government had a change of heart on the Joint Select Committee which Minister Imbert had said publicly last week the Government had agreed to.
However, the AG said there is no need for the JSC. The Leader of the Opposition intervened, saying that the AG was untruthful. I believe I heard her say the word "lying" to which the Speaker ordered her to withdraw from the sitting without giving her the opportunity to withdraw the comment.
As a result, the Opposition walked out. Again, I cannot fault them for what they did. The Government is 100 per cent responsible for this fiasco.
They are blaming the Opposition for not bringing a bill concerning FATCA for two years but they did not bring it for one year either, they only brought it to Parliament two weeks before the deadline. The Government is being irresponsible.
Ghassan Youseph
Via email