House Speaker Halson Moultrie backtracked this morning after threatening to ban Englerston MP Glenys Hanna-Martin from the House of Assembly if she refused to apologize for comments she made during the previous House sitting last week.
When parliamentarians met this morning, Hanna-Martin was very much present in the House and in her seat.
In addressing the matter, Moultrie said certain words are not to be used in the House of Assembly including “blackguard”, “rats” “liars” and “swines.”
He said Hanna-Martin violated this rule when he claims she referred to governing members as rats and shouted “y’all lie too much” last week.
Moultrie said the words uttered by the Englerston MP will be expunged from the record of the House.
However, Opposition leader Philip Brave Davis pointed out that comments by members are only recorded by the Hansard when that person is on their feet and has been recognized by the Speaker. He said Hanna-Martin was not on her feet at the time and that those words were only put on the record after Moultrie regurgitated them.
Davis said governing members shout untoward things at him all the time when he is speaking in parliament but the Speaker says nothing.
Davis said Opposition members are “troubled by the obvious tension” between themselves and the Speaker, who Davis said doesn’t listen.
This irritated Moultrie who ordered Davis to sit down. East Grand Bahama MP Peter Turnquest then sprang up and accused Hanna-Martin of calling him “junk” and “garbage”.
He demanded that she apologize for her comments or be censured.
However, Hanna-Martin accused Turnquest of misleading the House. She said what really happened is Turnquest referred to Opposition members as the “junk crew” and she asked him if he would like her to call him garbage.
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