New session of Parliament begins on Tuesday

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CASTRIES, St Lucia, Apr. 22, CMC-A new session of the St Lucia Parliament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning, with members of the House of Assembly meeting at 10:00am (local time) and members of the Senate meeting at 10:30am.
There will then be a joint session of both houses during which Governor General Dame Calliopa Pearlette Louisy will deliver her  annual Throne Speech.
According to an announcement from office of the Speaker, the Standing Finance Committee will meet in closed session on April 25, 2017 to review the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2017/2018.
A sitting of the House of Assembly is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, where the Debate on the Estimates of Expenditure 2017/2018 will take place.
A report of the Meeting of the Standing Finance Committee will also be presented, this is expected to be the final year in which the budget period will be divided into two parts.
Initial talks have been held between Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and opposition leader Phillip ‎Pierre on reverting to the old system that was changed a few years ago.
Chastanet recently confirmed this when he told reporters that government would engage the opposition early enough on the next budget to see how both sides could agree on going back to having one process.
“I want to thank the opposition leader for taking my call and for the input he made on the process. I think we agreed that we would continue this process,” the Prime Minister said.
“I am hoping that the next time we have the budget we can assimilate those two budget processes. But it would require the support and collaboration of the opposition,” he added.

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