PRIME Minister Moses Nagamootoo says that the existing House of the National Assembly is a “constant cussdown, commotion and crude contempt,” thanks to the contribution of the opposition
In his weekly column, My Turn, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo compared the times of late past President Cheddi Jagan and the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, referring to it as exchanges of “sensible teasing as part of the political culture, even at a tense time.
However, Nagamootoo stated that the new version of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has lost its previous harmful banter only to be replaced with widespread “vulgar” behaviour.

“The current opposition is a pale shade of that period. Debates now quickly descend into hate speeches; the finesse and the humour have evaporated. Heckling is a babble of boisterous noises,” he said.

He told of a recent incident where an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) was called to appear before the Privileges Committee for publicly attacking the office of the Speaker.
After the MP later claimed “bias and partisanship” on the House Speaker Dr. Barton Scotland’s part, Nagamootoo himself had moved the motion to send the matter to the investigating committee.

Opposition MP Harry Gill had taken to the media to publish a letter, whereby he accused the Speaker of being “unjust” and showing partisanship and discrimination to “prevent bad news from reaching the media” in order to protect the government from losing office.
The prime minister reminded that these attacks were against the “Office of the Speaker, the integrity of Parliament, and the sanctity of the constitution, under whose authority the Office of Speaker is established.

“The opposition claimed that the MP was merely indulging in freedom of expression. My response is that he could claim that right if he had spoken in the National Assembly, where he could be protected by unqualified privilege. But he went outside the protective walls of parliament into an arena where free speech is not absolute, but is subject to exceptions such as defamation for libel and slander,” Nagamootoo said.

He added that the fellow opposition MPs defended Gill’s action as simply professing “the truth” despite the known fact that according to the Standing Orders, the decisions of the Speaker cannot be questioned or disobeyed except by a motion to this effect.

“Speaker Scotland may appear to be gentle, which is why there has been such sporadic disorderly conduct in the National Assembly. But he would act whenever attempts are made to impugn and undermine the Office of the Speaker,” Nagamootoo noted.

The prime minister recalled another instance in the House of the Assembly where opposition MPs who staged a sit-in shouted “Rape! Rape!” while alleging that the police had assaulted a female colleague.

He added to the list another instance where the PPP attempted to shut down an address to Parliament by President David Granger with an array of placards in the House to “devide” the nation.

In response, the prime minister stated: “It is time that we condemn this type of cavalier opposition behaviour and instead engage politely in our National Assembly as elected representatives of our people. When Parliament resumes in October, I expect, as Leader of Government in the House, to see full respect for the Office of the Speaker and Parliament.”