Deputy Speaker to rule on censuring Seetahal

Dana Seetahal's newspaper column criticising the behaviour of PNM MPs in Parliament and the Speaker of the House of Representatives for not reigning in the MPs could land her before the Privileges Committee for contempt of Parliament.

The Sunday Guardian column "PNM out of control" drew attention to the debate in the House of representatives in which PNM members attacked one another's character instead of dealing with the issue before the House, which was the Uff inquiry validation bill.

Seetahal also took issue with the Speaker who did not intervene to stop the "name-calling and bad-mouthing".

In piloting a motion against the Independent Senator, Information Minister Neil Parsanlal claimed that the column was an attack on Speaker Barendra Sinanan's character. He said reflections on the official conduct of the Speaker are direct attacks on the "very institution of the Parliament" itself.

"Mr Speaker, Ms Seetahal is a seasoned member of the other place and is probably more conversant than most with the rules governing the privileges and Members and of the Houses.

"And yet, within this very article, she liberally quotes the Standing Orders of the Parliament while publicly castigating the actions of the Chair in the performance of its function," he said.

Parsanlal said Commonwealth conventions show that any statement in the House reflecting on the Office of the Speaker, either directly or indirectly, is considered out of order and that in the United Kingdom such criticisms have attracted "the use of the penal powers" of the House of Commons.

"The Office of the Speaker is a highly regarded one, requiring the incumbent to exercise the patience of Job on other hand and the wisdom of Solomon on the other, to ensure the business of the House is conducted in a manner becoming the highest court in the land," he said.

Sinanan said since the matter involves him, he had no choice but to refer it to Deputy Speaker Pennelope Beckles to give a ruling.