‘Mace-snatching’, unparliamentary conduct part of wider mischief

— by APNU+AFC Coalition, says Attorney-General

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Ali Nandlall has expressed the view that the APNU+AFC Coalition seems intent on creating an atmosphere that is not conducive to constitutional and democratic governance and government.

Speaking in a recent edition of his “Issues in the News” programme, the Attorney-General made references to the pronouncements and actions by members of the Coalition, including the attempted stealing of the Mace by members of the Opposition last year during the debate of the Natural Resource Bill.

“They were shouting and screaming and behaving in the most vulgar and in the most outrageous manner as everyone of you would have seen streamed live from the Parliament website, in their attempt to prevent [Senior Finance Minister] Ashni Singh from presenting his debate for the Natural Resource Bill. When that failed, they breakup the loud speaker system in the Parliament; when that failed, they grabbed the Mace; they broke it and they tried to run away, out of the Parliament with it. And then after the whole world saw that, and as if that was not enough, they turned around and filed proceedings against the government, claiming that the government prevented them from speaking and that the Speaker prevented them from speaking,” he related.

The ruckus created by APNU+AFC Members of Parliament (MPs) occurred on December 29, 2021.
The Coalition MPs named in the incident were Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Ganesh Mahipaul and Maureen Philadelphia.

During the chaos, Ferguson made an attempt to steal the Speaker’s Mace; she was immediately joined by some of her other colleagues. This unprecedented act was foiled by a clerk of the House, who managed to secure the instrument, to which he held on tightly as he laid on the floor of the conference centre while having to contend with a torrent of verbal abuse from MP Philadelphia.

Human walls had to be formed around the Mace to keep it in place and Minister Singh to enable him to present the second reading of the bill. Following the mayhem, a motion, tabled by Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira, was passed in the National Assembly in January for the eight elected officials to be referred to the Privileges Committee for their actions which were caught on camera and live-streamed across multiple social media channels.

An investigation into the matter has been completed and suspension has been recommended for the eight Coalition members involved in the chaos.

“They want to create an atmosphere that is not conducive to constitutional and democratic governance and government so that they can create havoc on the streets. That is their game plan,” said the Attorney-General as he made references to the Coalition activities that brought unease on the East Coast of Demerara as well as their Court challenges. The government is in the court every day, defending the proceeding that they are filing, he said.

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