‘Have some decorum’ – House Speaker tells parliamentarians

Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rochelle Forde had to call on parliamentarians to exercise decorum, during ‘Questions for Oral Answers’ in Parliament on Thursday, November 23.

Opposition Senator Shevern John had asked a question of Minister of Education, Curtis King.

However, after the question was read, King rose and stated that such a question should be asked of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Camillo Gonsalves.

The question had several parts and related to the Multi Purpose Identification System (MP-ID) which was launched here in 2015.

In providing an answer to the question, Minister Gonsalves quoted from a SEARCHLIGHT article published on May 31, 2016.

In the article, the then Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace was being critical of the MP-ID system.

Gonsalves said the system was later shelved, because it became “a political football.”

The minister’s answer sparked a lot of cross talk from members on the Opposition benches.

In the SEARCHLIGHT article, Eustace is quoted as saying that he does not like the new system at all, and that “it will be subject to abuse at a later stage.”

Gonsalves was unable to complete his answer before cross talk almost turned into a heated debate among members on both sides of the House.

After many failed attempts to bring order to the House, the Speaker reminded members of Standing Order 21:D which indicates that a question should not be made as a pretext for a debate.

After getting the members attention, the Speaker asked them to have “some decorum in the House.”