The Speaker should apologise to MP - Bishop Juan Edghill

The Speaker should apologise to MP – Bishop Juan Edghill

Dec 19, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland’s announcement that he did not summon the Police to eject People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Bishop Juan Edghill, on Monday, December 11, 2017, is most noteworthy.
The announcement was made late into the night; hours after the unprecedented presence of uniformed Police broke through a human barricade to get to the Bishop in what is considered the noble House.
During the ugly scenario, allegations of physical abuse on female PPP/C Members of Parliament, allegedly perpetrated by the Police, were made known and captured and broadcast in real time on social media. That despicable incident has cast a dark shadow on proceedings in the National Assembly portraying the nation negatively both locally and internationally.
From all perspective, it was precipitated by the Speaker’s refusal to allow the Opposition to rightfully question budgetary allocations for government Ministries and Agencies. It’s an enshrined right by any Opposition to so question on behalf of the Guyanese people who are the financiers of government’s spending.
That said, the probing questions by the Bishop must have annoyed the government’s side, and I dare say the Speaker. That might have unknowingly contributed to his own undoing leading to his expulsion.
In the circumstances, I find it difficult not to conclude that the actions to prevent scrutiny of the estimates were predetermine and strategically planned to effect what eventually transpired. How else can one explain that the very next morning the Speaker used the “disorder” as an excuse for disallowing scrutiny of a number of areas for government spending totaling billions of dollars? In this context, it therefore becomes extremely difficult to accept at face value the Speaker’s word that he did not summon the Police.
Who, if not him? Whoever made the call has boundless influence to affect the multitude of Police and their prompt response to the place where laws are made or changed. If the Speaker didn’t call them, why didn’t he immediately question their presence in a place where he has unrestrained authority? Why did he wait until late into the night to proclaim innocence? Was that a buffer period to re-strategize?
Is the Speaker, by his admission of not making that call, implying that the Police have no right to enter the National Assembly for the purpose which they did? Is he, by the same token, admitting their action was wrong? By convention, the Police cannot enter the Chamber and its environs without the express authority of the Speaker. The reason for that is to prevent any appearance or attempt at intimidation of members.
Finally, if the Speaker did not call the Police, then who did? No one else has the authority to do so. With whom did he collaborate in the Police Force?
The obvious answer can safely be deduced, and in that case he must immediately issue an unconditional apology to the Bishop, the PPP and the Guyanese people. He must also launch a genuine investigation into the incident or evoke the enthusiasm of President David Granger who has demonstrated an unbridled proclivity to launch Commissions of Inquiry. Only then believability of his word could be considered.
Sincerely
E. deGrasse
Concerned member Of the Diaspora

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