The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON Tribune Staff Reporter cnixon@tribunemedia.net ACCUSING Frank Smith of assaulting a fellow Parliamentarian, the FNM said the St Thomas More MP took Parliamentary democracy to a new low yesterday. The incident came when FNM Pineridge MP Kwasi Thompson attempted to read a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) minority report into the record, only to be set upon by Mr Smith, who attempted to shout over Mr Thompson and move his microphone. The House of Assembly had already descended into chaos after Speaker Alvin Smith ruled to allow the report, which concerns the committee's review of the New Providence Infrastructure Improvement Project (NPIIP), to be tabled. Several members of the opposition got to their feet to protest the ruling, while others banged their desks. Chairman of the committee PLP Bain and Grants Town MP Dr Bernard Nottage said the report should not be tabled without first being debated by the PAC, in accordance with the rules of the House of Assembly. He said: "It is not that he is not entitled to make a minority report, he is, but it must be done in the proper way." As Mr Thompson attempted to read the report, Fort Charlotte MP Alfred Sears and Mr Smith rose to their feet, Mr Sears repeating that he had a point of order to make and Mr Smith pushing away and covering Mr Thompson's microphone. While addressing the floor during the question-and-answer portion of the session, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said Mr Thompson was assaulted by Mr Smith, who tried to repeatedly to interrupt him. "He assaulted him, I saw it with my own eyes," said Mr Ingraham. Speaking at a luncheon with the nine women FNM candidates in honour of International Woman's Day, Mr Ingraham again commented on the morning's parliamentary session, claiming that in his 35 years in Parliament he has never seen such a display over any issue. "It was absolutely disgraceful and unbecoming, and as I said at a public meeting recently, as election gets nearer the PLP become more and more desperate and they get nastier in terms of the things they say and do, today was merely an example of that," he said. Speaker Alvin Smith said the St Thomas More MP's actions were a display of "gross disorder." Rising on a point of privilege, Mr Smith denied assaulting Mr Thompson, claiming he never touched him. He said: "For the record, to my recollection I never touched him and if I did it was not my intention." But Mr Thompson claims he was touched on two occasions - first when he stood to speak and again when Mr Smith attempted to move and cover his microphone. Eventually regaining control of the House, the Speaker asked what authority Mr Smith had to move the microphone of another Member of Parliament. He said the House would move on and would not hear anything else on the matter. Condemning the opposition's actions, the FNM released a statement last night claiming that the PLP directly disobeyed a ruling by the Speaker and chastised Mr Smith for repeatedly attempting to disrupt the minority report presentation. It said: "This morning the nation witnessed a new low in our Parliamentary democracy. Never before has a member physically attempted to stop another member from speaking in the House of Assembly. "The Free National Movement strongly condemns the PLP for such disgraceful acts in our Parliament." The majority report on the committee's review of the NPIIP and related government spending was presented in the House of Assembly on Monday by Dr Nottage, who said the project was affected by political considerations. He said after three months of interviews, the committee found a number of issues that caused delays in the project. These were largely deemed to be avoidable and a direct result of negligence, including poor co-ordination of utilities, poor quality of work, failure to comply with financial obligations in contract, traffic mismanagement, cost overruns and political influence. But the minority report, which was tabled by Mr Thompson yesterday, said the committee review was not independent and did not take into consideration the evidence of the positive transformation of the island's roads, water systems, sidewalks and other infrastructure. It said: "The majority members of PAC, who are all members of the official opposition party, have submitted a report which the minority of members cannot support as the report does not take into account significant portions of evidence and unfortunately makes conclusions which are simply not supported by the evidence."