Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson has called on Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir to put his political bias aside and allow robust scrutiny of the government’s first Financial Paper for 2025, seeking an additional $57.492 billion to spend on several initiatives.
In a letter to the press, Ferguson recalled that on February 3, 2025, the National Budget, totaling $1.38 trillion, was approved. “Now, just three months later, the government is back in the National Assembly requesting supplementary funds for multiple ministries.
“Notably, $46.475 billion (approximately 75% of the supplementary funds) is being allocated to the Ministry of Housing alone,” the parliamentarian pointed out.
Ferguson also underlined her concern about the lack of details provided in the remark’s legend. “Even more troubling is the pattern we have observed during the consideration of such papers, scheduled for Friday, May 23, 2025; where the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Manzoor Nadir, consistently limits opportunities for robust scrutiny,” said Ferguson.
In the interest of transparency and accountability, she urged the Speaker to remove his political bias and allow full scrutiny of both the approved and supplementary sums.
