Speaker rules against Kamla

UPDATED:

Speaker of the House of Representatives Bridgid Annisette-George yesterday ruled there was no prima-facie breach of privilege in Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s comments during an interview on September 16.

In that interview, he said he does not “knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament.” He made the statement while defending his relationship with businessman Hanif Nazim Baksh the owner of A&V Oil and Gas.

Annisette-George told yesterday’s sitting of Parliament, “While some may find the statement attributed to the Honourable Prime Minister objectionable, it is insufficient to meet the threshold required to find a prima facie case of a breach of privilege.”

Her ruling came in response to Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar being granted leave to raise a motion of privilege against Rowley.

Annisette-George said after perusing a ruling from the New Zealand House of Representatives and debate on a breach of privilege in the House of Commons in relation to freedom of comment, she found: “The statement made is too remote to attribute a reflection on the members, presiding officers or staff of the Parliament. It is vague and lacks the specificity required to qualify as a reflection on a member or on the House.”

ORIGINAL STORY:

Speaker of the House Bridgid Annisette-George today ruled in the Parliament that she found no prima-facie breach of privilege in Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s comments during an interview on September 16.

In that interview he had said, he does not “knowingly associate with crooks except in the Parliament.”

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