LOCAL Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, has apologised for unparliamentary remarks he made on Wednesday night, pointing out that he was provoked by incessant insults from Opposition Members of Parliament.

The minister, in a statement, also described a statement issued by the Alliance For Change (AFC) on the matter as untruthful.

“I read with astonishment, the total fabrication by the AFC of a situation in today’s (Wednesday) sitting of the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly of Guyana.

“Their media release is totally untruthful but as is their wont, they created a brouhaha to extricate themselves from the public exposure of their monumental embarrassment caused by their corrupt, discriminatory and vindictive conduct during their time in office as government.

“On many occasions, the MPs on the government side have been ridiculed with some of the most uncouth and slanderous things about their bodies, their spouses, their children, their sexuality and even their dead relatives.

“Some of the chief culprits in the heckling crowd of APNU+AFC include MPs Sherod Duncan, Coretta Mc Donald and Natasha Singh-Lewis,” he said.

The minister also clarified that his unintentional comment was aimed at the verbal excesses of MP Sherod Duncan.

“In hindsight, I should not have responded to the continued insults on me, my family and deceased sister, (yes they insulted my sister who died 11 years ago) by members of the APNU+AFC. To those offended by my comment I am truly sorry. That is the truth,” he said.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, was forced to suspend Mr Duncan after he repeatedly failed to adhere to orders on Wednesday.

Duncan walked into the Committee of Supply during the consideration of the budget estimates of Region Five (Demerara-Mahaica) and began lambasting government parliamentarians. He was heard repeating the word “nasty” and even accused the Speaker of being prejudicial.

Calls by the Speaker for him to be seated went unheeded. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, then moved a motion that Duncan be suspended for the next four sittings. Votes were cast in this regard.

Wednesday’s outburst follows similar behaviour and defiance recently by opposition Parliamentarians in the House.

In a previous sitting in December, when Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, opened the debate on the Natural Resource Fund (NRF), he was swarmed by whistle-blowing opposition members.

After they failed to prevent Minister Singh from speaking, opposition parliamentarian, Annette Ferguson, attempted to cart off the Mace, to no avail. The move was labelled “treacherous” by the Speaker.