Speaker repeatedly upbraids Opposition MPs for noise level – suspends House -sitting resumes after parties agree to less noise
Georgetown, GINA, April 16, 2012
Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman has cautioned Members of Parliament (MPs) that the lewd battle of words will not be tolerated, as it is impossible for him to function in such an environment.
His comment which came subsequent to a brief suspension of the House, after A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), MP, Amna Ally continued interrupting Education Minister Priya Manickchand during the Minister’s Budget presentation, despite being cautioned by the Speaker on several instances.
“Honourable Member, what started out as a little noise erupted into a continuous behaviour and it is making it impossible for me to hear. It is also causing the Minister to have to shout and when she goes there is a response and it is not getting any better,” Trotman chided.
The Speaker, had cautioned Ms. Ally on several occasions prior to his decision, to suspend the House. This was not the first time such caution was issued to Opposition MPs, as the Speaker made it clear that when they (Opposition side), are presenting their claims, no such behaviour is present from the Government side.
“With the speakers more to come I think it is not going to be any better but get worse, and so it is obvious that we cannot and I will not continue in an atmosphere like that,” he said.
PPP/C and APNU, Chief Whips, Gail Teixeira and Ally respectively were subsequently summoned to a meeting with the Speaker, at which they pledged their continued cooperation and support to maintaining order in the House.
However, Ally during her meeting with the Speaker raised the issue that the Education Minister mis-represented her (Ally), comments during her budget debate.
“I have advised Ms. Ally that the appropriate thing to do is to rise on a Point of Order and point them out as what Ms Teixeira does from time to time, rather than have a battle of words going on. This will be followed by the Minister’s response and we will get this done in a respectful manner and get the people’s business conducted,” Trotman stated.
This was done but the Education Minister maintained her statements, and called on the Speaker to make use of the Hansards Department to back-up her claims.
Ms. Ally in her debate of the 2012 National Budget spoke of substandard works by Government towards the sector and the misappropriation of funds on projects by the PPP/C associates, such as the Learning Channel which is not fully equipped to address issues affecting today’s education.
The Education Minister rebutted these claims and noted that the persons (s), heading each department within the Education Ministry, especially the Chief and Deputy Education Officers, Olato Sam and Donna Chapman are well qualified and respectable persons, who she is confident can man each department.
A similar request for the Hansard department to produce a transcript was made by Minister Manickchand, against APNU, MP, Basil Williams, which was accepted by the Speaker in a sitting last week and was found that Minister Manickchand’s claims were indeed accurate.
