Inevitably, Omar Davies' first budget debate as the shadow, rather than as the minister of finance, was not without its share of politicking and attempts at point-scoring against his successor, Audley Shaw.

For instance, Dr Davies, it seemed, enjoyed himself in highlighting some of the pre-election promises made by Mr Shaw, himself, and more generally the governing Jamaica Labour Party which were not being kept in this budget. There was a sense of vindication, too, that the Government had not veered radically from the macro-economic policies left behind.

Like all politicians, though, Dr Davies is excited by a pork barrel. Naturally, he welcomed the new Government's herding the resources of what used to be Social and Economic Support Programme and other funds, over which politicians had some influence, into a single trough called the Constituency Development Fund, from which MPs will be able to access up to $40 million for projects in their ridings.

Initial promise

Davies, like the others, would have loved it to be more, but he had fun reminding Mr Shaw that the initial promise for the CDF was 2.5 per cent of the budget, which would have allowed over $200 million per constituency. He had warned that the cash would not be available to keep the promise.

Indeed, Dr Davies argued, if Mr Shaw and the Government had kept all their promises this fiscal year, it would have required a tax package of $25 billion rather than the $5 billion proposed by Mr Shaw, which, of course, would have been politically unsustainable. In the event, Dr Davies questions the Government's capacity to fund the budget as it now stands, arguing that it will be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for the administration to increase its tax take by the projected $44 billion on the basis of improved compliance.

Time will tell whether Dr Davies is right or whether, as Mr Shaw has claimed, the new administration had shifted the paradigm on economic governance, leading to sustained growth in an admittedly difficult environment.

But the political jousting notwithstanding, we welcome the tenor of the presentations so far.

Failures in gov't

It is quite understandable that after more than 18 years in Opposition and the first budget by the JLP in two decades, that Mr Shaw would use the opportunity to offload on the previous People's National Party administration and their failures in government - real and perceived. It is, in part, insulation for the new administration against what it may not be able to deliver - we never assumed that things were quite this bad. But Mr Shaw kept his gloating, blaming and scapegoating within tolerable limits.

Similarly, Dr Davies, for the most part, adopted a tone that was deliberative and mature, which may have irritated his party's most hard-core supporters but would have been welcomed by most of the country.

He provided a clear analysis of the difficult global environment in which Jamaica would have to operate and what he thought were some of the weaknesses in the current budget. But his most significant statement, in our view, was that the Opposition would not use the Government's "razor-thin margin in seats and in popular vote ... to be destructive and seek to mash down".

We'll watch and see.