– refers him to Privileges Committee for slandering the Speaker

PEOPLE’S Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament Harry Gill has been referred to the Committee of Privileges over what has been deemed an attack on the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.

At the heart of the matter is a letter written by Gill titled, ‘There are inconsistencies in the Speaker’s rulings on sub judice and other matters’ and published in the July 30, 2018 edition of the Stabroek News.

In that letter, Gill is alleged to have brought into disrepute the integrity, credibility and impartiality of the Speaker by saying that he employs double standards when dealing with matters of the House.

An excerpt of said letter reads: “The Hon Speaker of the National Assembly will be best advised to view some of the videos posted on social media to see how biased he appears, imposing his authority to disrupt an Opposition MP on a roll during the debates, or simply to prevent bad news from reaching the press.”

At Monday’s Sitting of the National Assembly, the 95th to date, the Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland upbraided Gill, stating that in keeping with universal and best known rules of parliamentary practice, such as the Erskine May 24th Edition, the Speaker cannot be criticised, except by way of a substantive Motion.
“If the Honourable Member, Mr. Gill was dissatisfied with the rulings or decisions of the Speaker, he could have taken a course of action provided in the Standing Orders, to which all members of this House have submitted themselves when they became members of this House,” Dr Scotland said.

“He has proceeded, instead, on a course of action which is totally impermissible under the Standing Orders. His conduct is an affront to the Office of the Speaker, the person of the Speaker, and to the dignity of this House,” Dr. Scotland told the House.

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ONCE TOO OFTEN
In cautioning Gill, the Speaker noted that this is the second time in two years that such a disregard for the rules of the House has been displayed by Members of Parliament.
“Maybe the silence of this House on the previous occasions has emboldened the Honourable Member, Mr. Gill,” he posited.

While it was the Speaker that reprimanded Gill, it was Prime Minister and Leader of the House, Moses Nagamootoo, who, through a Motion, asked that the MP be sent before the Committee of Privileges in keeping with Standing Order 91.
According to Standing Order 91, any matter which appears to affect the powers and privileges of the National Assembly shall be referred to the Committee of Privileges, which is headed by the Speaker.

From the very onset, the Prime Minister stated the government will not condone any attack on the Speaker of the National Assembly or the House.

He told his colleagues on both sides of the House that Gill’s action transgresses the normative rules of the House, and from all indications was a premeditated political attack against the Speaker.

As such, he felt, and told the House, that appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that there is no continuation or proliferation of the type of behaviour displayed by Gill.
It was on that note that the Prime Minister asked that the matter be referred to the Committee of Privileges.

In response, the Speaker informed Members of Parliament that the Motion, put by the Prime Minister, was properly made, and as such Gill was committed to the Committee of Privileges.

“Honourable Member Mr. Harry Gill will answer to the Committee of Privileges for his conduct in this matter,” the Speaker said.

But even before the Speaker could have ruled on the Motion moved by the Prime Minister, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira stood in objection, and though it was made clear to her that the matter was not up for debate, she spoke nonetheless.

BIASED DECISION
Teixeira opined that the criticisms made by parliamentarians outside of the House cannot be questioned, contending that any such move would be a clear breach of their right to Freedom of Expression.

In a statement released hours later, the PPP said, “After three years of demonstrable actions and decisions of partiality and bias on the part of the Speaker of the National Assembly, today (Monday), the matter reached its epitome.”

According to the Parliamentary Opposition, Gill’s letter was based on facts, but despite that, the Speaker, without hesitation, ruled that a case was made out for the matter to be considered by the Privileges Committee.

“It was a vulgar case of a clumsily staged collaboration,” the PPP said, adding:
“This is the latest exhibition of a crude assault, not only of parliamentary democracy and the right to free speech of a Member of the National Assembly in and out of the Assembly, but one of the most perverse decisions of a Speaker of the National Assembly in our living memory.

“The travesty was compounded by the fact that the Speaker himself, being the subject of the alleged infraction, rather than recuse himself boldly presided over the Motion and essentially found that a prima facie case had been made out for the matter to be considered by the Privileges Committee. “That the Speaker found nothing wrong with being a Judge in his own cause, by itself, speaks volumes.”

The PPP is holding fast that the Motion filed by the Prime Minister violates all the relevant Standing Orders, and has vowed to challenge it at every available fora.